Suscipio
by WeAreJorus
Summary: COMPLETE. Life is about to change for a young girl... and Severus Snape has everything to do with it. Alternate universe. Takes place during PoA.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: This story was written completely by me, through the countless inspirations from HP fanfics I've read over the last year None of the recognizable characters from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter universe are mine, I just shared my characters with them for a bit. No copyright infringement is intended. This tale conflicts with the Harry Potter storyline to some small degree, and in case you are wondering, I meant to do it that way. Please get my permission if you want to post my story on your site… I want to get credit for my creative genius after all. See general disclaimer on my profile page.**

_**Rededication- For Andy... living proof that friends appear in the most unexpected places. Thank you for being a special one of mine.**_

* * *

PART ONE: PROLOGUE

The sun descended behind the hills and trees, blotting the sky with a splattering of deep lilac, cerulean and coral hues. She looked across the compartment and through the opposite window of the next cabin over and stared through to the other horizon. In the distance, she could make out a scattering of stars rising and blooming into the night. She lazily kicked the rich mahogany chest at her feet, making one of the leather-bound metal handles thump against the polished wood.

It was the first of September. Halo Mandelor had been dropped off at King's Cross station in London early enough that she was able to secure a cabin on the Hogwarts Express, and keep it to herself as other students passed by. Most would take one look inside and keep on walking, but some uninformed first years had stumbled in on her and departed just as quickly when she hinted there might be something hideous under the compartment seats.

The train slowed to a stop unexpectedly, and the lights went out. Shrieking from the compartment ahead of her made her roll her eyes. _Oh great,_ she thought. I wonder how long this will last. Not long apparently, because the lights flickered on just moments later and the train began moving again.

She was irritated, and in no mood to entertain herself. But she was in much less of a mood to entertain others.

"Excuse me…" two first-year girls were poking their heads into the doorway of her compartment. The one who spoke had a rather high, squeaky voice, and it was obvious they hadn't been ambitious enough to just barge in and introduce themselves. They looked mortally terrified. "… we were wondering… could we possibly… share this compartment with you?"

Halo raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "That depends… do you have any spare body parts you wouldn't mind relinquishing?" she spouted in a nonchalant tone.

The already skittish girls promptly exchanged glances of horror and ran shrieking from the doorway. _That's better,_ she thought. _It's just like first year girls to take a peaceful journey and turn it into a slumber party_. She valued her clever wit and acid tongue, as well as the desire to be left alone. And she had no complaints about her disposition.

It was good to be a fourth year. Her reputation alone preceded her.

Halo felt the train begin to slow as is descended into the valley and chugged to a halt in front of Hogsmeade Station. Her body rocked against the back of the seat at the locomotive's final jolt of movement. As the other passengers fumbled with their belongings and each other, rushing for the doors, Halo sat back and closed her eyes. There was no way in Hell she was going to get off the train with that ludicrous pack of eager beavers.

Their footsteps had ceased not ten minutes later when she pushed herself up from her seat and sauntered to the exit. She snorted in disdain at the blond-headed Slytherin boy huddled behind his two pet gargoyles and giggling idiotically while flicking Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans at the first year students.

Halo stepped up behind him and kicked him in the leg with the toe of her boot. "Draco, you dunderhead, did it ever occur to you that your defective genetics could lose us house points?"

"We're not officially checked in yet, so who cares?" He stopped for a second and his face changed to one of realization, apparently his pea-sized intellect didn't have the capacity to process such vilification as her personal attack took a considerable amount of time to sink in. "Hey!" he called after her.

Halo had already climbed into one of the carriages with a few Hufflepuff seventh years and pretended she hadn't heard him.


	2. Nuisance

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N: If you like what you read, tell me!

PART TWO: NUISANCE 

The short carriage ride up to the castle steps was pleasantly unremarkable. Halo's carriage companions had been tolerable, most likely due to the fact that she had petrified them with a venomous glare upon taking her seat across from them.

Students parted like the Red Sea as she walked up the steps into the entrance hall. Had she had the inclination, she could stick her arms out and spin around without hitting anyone. Halo snorted in amusement at this thought. If she acted upon this mental image… no, she didn't even want to think about it. Perhaps later, in private, she might indulge in this childish, dizzying behavior.

"Halo!" A distant voice caught up with her. Halo turned abruptly as Oliver Wood came skidding to a halt beside her. "I was calling you, didn't you hear me?" The young boy's face was all smiles. He regained his balance and walked with her into the Great Hall. "How was your holiday?"

Oliver was a spirited ball of carefully harnessed energy, as usual. Somehow they had become quite good friends, despite the opposing houses. All they really had in common was the fact that they both had entered Hogwarts a year early.

"Well aside from an overabundance of sunburned and peeling skin and a bothersome tendency to revert to the American accent, I must admit… spending the summer on a Pacific Island was rather enjoyable." Halo offered him a small, rare grin. Of all the students at Hogwarts, Oliver had been the only one that she hadn't managed to scare away. He was also the least annoying. Halo was quite amused that he had shown interest in her.

"I hope you got my letters." He was looking at her with unobstructed curiosity. That was something she valued in him; he wasn't afraid of her. She had initially given him plenty of reasons to avoid her like the plague, but he had continued to pursue her friendship. It was a shame they didn't share the same house.

"I did, thank you. I regret however that I was often too preoccupied with activities to respond to all of them."

"Activities? Do tell." 

"The Muggles," she referred to the couple who acted as her parents during summer holidays, "signed me up for surfing lessons every day, thus the undesired change in skin color. But I also snuck away every afternoon to take some potions lessons with a witch who lived down the beach from where we stayed."

"I should have known you couldn't last all summer without studying something. Oh I forgot to tell you… I found out about a secret passage out of the castle. We'll have to check it out." Oliver's grin spread across acres. He turned suddenly to look over his shoulder. Professor McGonagall had entered to announce the arrival of the first years. "Uh oh, we'd better take our seats. I'll meet you later, you room then?"

Halo nodded discreetly and took a seat halfway up the Slytherin table. She glanced down front to the head table, Headmaster Dumbledore had begun his usual start-of-term speech, peppered with useless remarks. Surveying the head table, she set her eyes on what must have been the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, before moving down the line to Professors Sprout, Flitwick and Snape. The latter locked eyes with her for a second before returning his attention the Dumbledore's rendition of _Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment_ and _Tweak!_

"Halo, don't look so sour." Blaise Zabini chided her in a whisper from across the table. Zabini suffered from a fresh cheek and horrible timing. The prat then suffered a vile look from Halo, who then turned her attention to flexing a fork between her fingers as she sat through the impossibly long sorting ceremony. When the food appeared, Halo took enough to satisfy her until breakfast and spent the rest of the time scooting the remains smeared on her plate to resemble Arithmancy calculations. It was another half hour of festivities before she set off to her room.

Yes, _her_ room. A moderate-sized and quite uninhabited teacher's bedroom near the dungeons, complete with high stone cathedral ceiling, had been hers since a week after her first year had begun. It had taken all week and all her roommates' tears and the complaints of a large number of the Slytherin students from all years to have her moved away from the student population. Halo had had no complaints; the absence of her house mates' impulsive little bodies and excessive conversation habits when she was around was actually quite pleasant.

Oliver was waiting for her at her door when she arrived with her key. "I suppose you haven't been up to the tower yet," she assumed. The key in her hand pulled away from her fingers and melted into the lock. Brushing her fingers across the heavy wooden door, it creaked open to allow her entrance. Oliver followed her in.

"Not yet. I was hoping we could take a walk first. I learned some new tricks in Quidditch camp this summer that I'm just itching to show off.

"I bet you are. Give me a moment to find my cloak."

"You will do no such thing." A low, authoritative voice drawled from behind them. Halo and Oliver turned silently around, Oliver much more quickly.

Professor Snape hovered in the doorway, his long black robes spilling from his shoulders. His vicious glare gave him the appearance of Dracula incarnate. "Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr. Wood. You should feel relieved that I am not revoking your Quidditch privileges as well. Run along to you tower."

Oliver gave Snape a stunned, objective nod and mouthed _"Sorry"_ to Halo as he swept past the dark clad figure and headed up the stone steps. Snape had not removed his gaze from Halo, possibly because Halo was returning an equally menacing glare at her Head of House. Unlike each other student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including those in Slytherin House, she was not the least bit afraid of him.

But there was the little matter of her friendship with an outsider, a _Gryffindor_ outsider to be exact. Snape had expressed to her his opposition, rather, his extreme distaste for her friendship with Oliver Wood. He had even tried to mislead her into believing that she was not permitted to speak to members of other houses in private. However, he had no basis to forcefully terminate the relationship, even the Headmaster encouraged it. Dumbledore was openly fond of inter-house friendships.

"Explain to me why you feel the need to break the rules set forth for your protection, Miss Mandelor." Snape's mouth curled unpleasantly, his arms folded across his chest. "You are aware that there are Dementors stationed at every exit to this castle and should you venture out after hours you would most certainly be returned to us in a catatonic state."

_Dementors_. She had missed that part of the Headmaster's speech.

"Apparently not," he glared at her critically. "I will not hear of you attempting to break the rules again, am I quite understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

Snape gave her a final, warning glance and swept from the doorway, pulling the heavy door closed behind him.

_Hear of me breaking the rules he will not… but break the rules I certainly will_. She sucked in a lungful of air and expelled it, and with the breath also released her guard. She went to the window and cracked it open a bit. It was time for bed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Early morning rays of sparkling light fluttered through the now wide open window. Halo woke to a small weight on her left shoulder and a nibbling sensation in her ear. She pushed the light weight from her shoulder, and it hopped from the bed to rest on the back of a chair. Halo peeled her eyes open and settled them on the blue sentinel owl perched on the oak frame of her desk chair. "Luna, go to the Owlery if you want breakfast."

The owl ruffled her feathers and emitted a few clicks from her beak before launching herself out the open window. Halo flung herself out of bed and stumbled into the adjoining washroom.

Breakfast was nothing out of the ordinary. She had arrived late after struggling to pull her washed-wet hair into a tight braid and shared a fleeting glance with Oliver, who had seated himself near the front of the Great Hall. He'd looked a bit concerned, but Halo figured he was just anxious to find out what had transpired after he'd excused himself the night before. He caught up to her as they were headed off to their first class of the day, which luckily they shared, as Halo had been placed in Advanced Potions this year with the seventh year students.

"He informed me in so many words that he doesn't want to catch me trying to sneak out again." Halo snickered cleverly. "He doesn't want to _catch_ me. It's doubtful he will."

"That's it? no detention?"

Halo shrugged. "Guess I'm not worthy of his time. Nothing new to me."

"Yeah well… on to other matters. How did you get promoted to my Potions class? I mean, you're good and all…"

"The Headmaster felt that holding me back would lead to my eventual boredom." Halo rolled her eyes. "Boredom, indeed. I'll be bored three minutes into the class anyway."

Oliver laughed. "Probably. Are you coming to watch Quidditch practice later? I still have those tricks to show you."

Halo sighed heavily. "Sure, why not? Like I care if my house thinks I'm fraternizing with the enemy."

"Just so long as they don't bind you in shackles and make you give away our secrets." Oliver nudged her lightly in the arm with his elbow, then recoiled suddenly holding up his hands apologetically. "Sorry, I forgot." He knew she was hostile toward being touched.

Halo had to hold herself back, emitting a visible air of _Touch Me Not_. She forced herself to relax, but made no indication that it was 'all right.' It was never 'all right' to touch her. But she forgave him, as he was not only her sole friend, but also human and had honestly slipped.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"This will be your most difficult term in my class." Snape prowled the room. "With the exception of you, Miss Mandelor, seeing that you've managed to weasel your way into an advanced class you'll have it harder than anyone else," he lowered his voice has he passed Halo's work table. Some more unfortunate students began to tremble as he passed their desks. Snape again raised his voice. "Let me further assure you that should you not pass this class you will not graduate from this institution."

He cracked the whip over the students' heads as their cauldrons bubbled and vapor seethed across the desks. Halo and Oliver had went to work on the beginnings of their veritaserum mixture. Oliver took it upon himself to stir while Halo glanced longingly at a volume on Snape's library shelf, wondering if he'd say anything if she retrieved it to help with their potion. It's not like the book was forbidden, she'd read it before with the Potions instructor's supervision. In fact, she'd probably read every book in his library. Snape eyed her closely as she dashed over to the bookshelf. He restrained himself from deducting house points for not first acquiring permission. He had always forced himself to turn a blind eye where she was concerned, but only under certain circumstances, and was not about to break the habit.

Halo verified her hypothesis with the information she found in the book that she had brought back to the desk. She fingered through the pages for further hints when Snape announced that it was time to test their potions. He called a handful of students to the front of the room, while a representative of each cauldron came forth with a sample of their work. From their cauldron it was Oliver who was called to participate, and Halo who brought a vial of the perfectly blended, crystal clear liquid.

_I should have volunteered,_ Halo thought. _Who knows what the man will ask him?_

"Mr. Flint," Snape began, after Marcus had downed a vial of liquid that had presented a purplish tint. "Did you or did you not produce an offensive gesture this morning when Professor Lupin's back was turned?" Snape knew, of course, that he had.

Flint gulped, his Adam's Apple running nervously up and down his throat. "Of course not, Sir."

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Alderman. Apparently, your potion has relatively the same effectiveness as pumpkin juice." Flint's cauldron partner by insistence, as no one else wanted to work with Flint, sunk into noticeable despair and retreated to the back of the room. Flint got up from his stool in the spotlight and sauntered gleefully back to his seat.

Snape moved routinely down the line, deducting points from Gryffindors when convenient and distributing Slytherin House points where he felt generous. Then he stopped as Oliver took the stool. 

"Mr. Wood, have you ever touched Miss Mandelor in a way she would find uncomfortable?"

Oliver did not hesitate, fully under the potion's influence. "Yes sir, just this morning."

"Did you, now?" Snape looked mildly amused, but even more triumphant over this confession before contorting his face in the usual bitter frown. "Fifty points from Gryffindor. And the Headmaster will hear of this."

Oliver leapt to his feet. "No sir, I simply slipped! I only nudged her in the arm, I would never knowingly do anything to hurt her!"

"Hold your tongue, boy or I shall make it a Hundred!" Snape hissed. He didn't care that the two-sided confession had just been made invalid, thanks to the truth potion. He would do anything to break up their little dream team.

Oliver opened his mouth to press the issue, but the look Halo shot at him stopped him. He retreated in defeat back to their cauldron.

"The man's more hurtful than a Howler, but no matter," Halo whispered once they had reached their seats in the corner. "I will see the Headmaster immediately to clear this up." 

"I'm so sorry…" Oliver returned the low voice. "I can't imagine what I've done to your reputation…"

"Nothing at all. I'm sure most will believe that had you laid a hand on me I would have kicked you down below." Which, in all reality, she would have, had she not restrained herself earlier. "I'm more worried about yours. If I know the Slytherins in this class, the whole school will have heard by lunchtime." They rose as Snape dismissed the class and disappeared into his office.

"Time to do some damage control. I'll see you at lunch."

Halo climbed the steps to Dumbledore's office in record time, spouting half of Honeydukes' inventory to the Gargoyle who sat peacefully by the office door before swinging open before her. "Ah, Halo. We were expecting you." Dumbledore moved from behind his desk to reveal Snape seated in one of the visitor chairs.

 Halo sighed in defeat. "Professor Dumbledore, I must insist that Oliver Wood hurt me in no way. He is just a friend. He simply slipped, as friends do, from time to time, I imagine."

Dumbledore smiled at her from behind his half-moon spectacles. "Well there you have it, Severus. The child seems fine to me. And to the best of my knowledge, she would never lie."

Halo had to hold back a snort of contradiction. She knew she would most certainly lie if the circumstances asked it of her.

"I must insist, Headmaster," Snape stood, furious, "that the boy be suspended from the first Quidditch game for his..." Snape hissed out the words like venom, "slip-up."

Dumbledore held up his hand to quiet the dark wizard. "I believe the young man's fate rests with Halo." He turned to her. "My dear, do you believe that Mr. Wood's blunder warrants such a severe consequence?"

Halo shook her head adamantly. "No, Headmaster. He stopped himself right after he did it, he only nudged me in the arm, you see. He told me immediately that he hadn't meant to do it on purpose."

"Well Severus, if the rest of your class heard it the way you did, I believe you'll have your hands full putting out some fires. I trust you can ensure Mr. Wood has a clean reputation by suppertime." The old wizard didn't like having to put his staff in their place, but there were times when it was more important to ensure that he wouldn't begin receiving hundreds of owls from parents demanding the expulsion of a student who can't keep his hands to himself, for the safety of the other children.

Snape shot a vile glare at Halo, nodded curtly to the old wizard and swept from the room with a swoosh of black satin robes.

Dumbledore turned back to Halo. "You'll have to excuse him, my dear. He is quite upset about the circumstances surrounding the escape of Sirius Black. I do believe he will be quite disconcerted until the situation is resolved. Now, how was your class, other than the apparent mishap?"

"It was informative… but undemanding. I do hope I'll have more of a challenge in the next class."

"As do I." Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Well you should be off to your next class." He conjured a slip of parchment and handed it to her. "Take this with you as an excuse for your tardiness."

Halo took the slip of parchment gratefully and turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway and turned around. "Sir, he took a great deal of house points from Oliver for this…"

"It has been dealt with. Now, off you go."

Halo knew better than to further press the issue with the aged wizard. With a nod of acknowledgement, she went from the room and down the steps.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As ordered, the rumors had all but ceased by late afternoon. Halo passed a note to Oliver in the Great Hall at dinner. After taking her seat at the Slytherin table, she watched his face as he read the note. _My charitable act for the day has come to pass. Time to be the rogue,_ she mused, looking across the table to Millicent Bulstrode, who was making rather pleasant conversation with Pansy Parkinson. Halo's stomach turned at a sudden remembrance of how the two girls had been the first and most frequent to complain about her over the previous two years. _Why stand in the way of tradition?_

Halo kicked Millicent hard in the shins from under the table simply because she could, but also because Pansy's shins were further out of her reach, forcing one Slytherin third year girl to dump the contents of her goblet all over her robes and fall backward off the bench, and the other to squeal, startled. Halo ignored the glares she got from the surrounding Slytherins, including Millicent who went dripping to the head table to do some serious tattling.

Halo gave a look of unadulterated innocence when both Dumbledore and Snape turned their heads to glare at her. She couldn't help not liking Millicent, who had made her miserable from the very first day of Halo's second year and Millicent's first. She could remember the girl's nasal, high-pitched voice. "A girl named _Halo_  in _Slytherin!_ How out of place is that?" Millicent had jeered. Halo tripped her at the top of the stairs, making her fall flat on her face and subsequently spend an hour in the hospital wing as Madam Pomfrey struggled to get the young Slytherin's nosebleed to cease.

"You _have_ to start taking an interest in that girl," Dumbledore muttered to the dark shrouded Potions Master seated at his right hand side. "She's unforgivably anti-social, with the one exception named Oliver Wood. This behavior has to stop."

"She simply needs to be sent away from here," Snape replied, his mouth full of food.

"That doesn't work Severus, surely you must realize that. She needs guidance. It's time you took charge of the situation. And she's in your house, which means you must take even more responsibility.

The dark wizard snorted. "I _don't_ want it."

"You have to. You must do something before it is too late."


	3. Resonance

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART THREE: RESONANCE 

Halo went to bed that night owning a very long detention, due to be served the following evening in the Dungeon. It was no specified which offense for which the detention was issued, but Halo had a feeling it was for the unprovoked assault on Miss Bulstrode and not the overturned suit of armor in the entrance hall. Luna had brought her a note from Oliver and then proceeded to peck at the unlocked door to her cage, finally getting it open and settling atop her perch for a nap.

_Halo,_

_Thanks for whatever you said to Professor Dumbledore. I haven't had a single person bring up the incident in Potions yet, not even Harry and his friends, who seem to find out about everything. I guess you were too tired to watch Quidditch practice, since you left right after dinner. Did you hear about the possessed suit of armor earlier? Just tore itself apart. Brought almost everyone in the Great Hall out to see what was up. Probably just Peeves up to his random high jinks. Since we can't go outside without an escort, let's go for a walk around the castle tomorrow evening before supper. Professor Snape can't keep us from doing that. I had to use Luna for the note; I sent Val to my Mum for some project she's working on, so I won't have him for at least a week._

_- Olli_

Halo turned the parchment over, not because she was looking to save paper but because she was too lazy to find some of her own to write on. She rummaged in her pack and pulled out a purple pen. 

She hated using quills.

_Oliver,_

_I have detention tomorrow night in the Dungeon. A walk before dinner is fine with me. Bring a bludger, but don't ask me what for. And the suit of armor… that was me._

_- Halo_

"Luna, wake up, you need to take this to Olli's room." The blue owl ruffled herself and chittered resentfully. Not five minutes had passed before she returned from the short trip, carrying another note. The reply was scribbled on the same piece of parchment below Halo's impeccable manuscript.

_I figured. And I am not bringing a bludger! See you tomorrow._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I am going to say this just once, before your detention begins." Snape swept down from his perch behind the massive walnut desk to stand just inches from Halo's face. Halo stood defiantly rooted to the spot. She didn't blink once. "First, from this moment forward you will _not_ assault another student, physically or otherwise for any reason, _except_ in the rare case to defend yourself. Second, you will immediately desist your destructive activity on the property of this institution." He slapped her hand away from the student desk where she was gashing the wood with her fingernails in utter fury over the situation. Her subsequent flashing glare of _Touch Me Not_ didn't faze him. "And third, if you even _think_ of going over my head and straight to the Headmaster, you've got another thing coming."

Halo could tell that he wanted to be there even less than she did. She was prepared to make this as difficult for him as it would surely be for her. "But…"

"Am I quite understood?" Snape hissed. Poison might as well have been dripping from his lips, furious as he was.

For the first time, Halo shuddered at Snape's wrath, but barely. His words stung. But she was still going to make things difficult, she simply had to find another way. "I understand." She had to force herself not to clench her teeth. It was important to make him believe that he hadn't upset her one bit.

Snape fished behind the desk and handed her a cauldron of soapy water. "You will clean every inch of this classroom, including everything in that sink…" he indicated to the piles of used cauldrons left over from the last class of the day, "… until it is spotless. And you will _not_ use magic. When you are finished, which by my calculations will not be for several hours, we will have a long discussion of where your anti-social energies may be directed." He spun on his heel and with a trademark swish of his robes disappeared through his office door, no doubt for a nap.

Halo stood, petrified, in the middle of the classroom, for at least ten minutes without moving. In one hand her fist clenched around the handle of the soapy cauldron, in the other, a rag that had probably witnessed more of the classroom than Snape himself had ever seen. She was so tensely rigid that her pores could have oozed out venom, had she been made of sponge rather than flesh.

A sudden, piercing wall of sound passed through the dungeon and leveled the neat rows of bottles containing potions ingredients to cascade off their shelves and collect in piles of shards on the floor. Halo didn't know where it had come from, but it was a good thing she was where she was in the room, in the center and out of immediate danger from falling objects. She began to notice that the tension was rapidly leaving her body, and also that her lungs were running out of air.

The shrill toned ceased. It was another few seconds before she realized that the sound had come from her own voice. Her knees became weak.

Snape burst through the office door which scraped horrendously as it pushed aside the glass that had fallen behind it. His face was aghast with disbelief, moving his gaze from one pile of rubble to another pool of sizzling and foaming liquids.

Halo's vision blurred and her stomach gave a violent lurch. She stumbled sideways, braced herself against a desk and lowered herself to the floor. The last thing she saw before blacking out was Snape darting toward her. _I'm sorry… please… don't hurt me…_ she thought.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Oh… my head," she muttered. Lamplight slowly filtered between the slits in her eyelids, making her temples throb even harder.

"Can I give her something _now?_ Halo distantly heard Madam Pomfrey's voice but it was directed away from her. "I suppose." That was Snape, as sour as ever. Then there was a mild clank like two glass vials tapping into one another, and then… "Halo, drink this." A vial was being held out toward her, and a pair of arms was helping her to a sitting position. She tried hard to object, but the pain in her head kept her arms from working and her eyes from opening fully, and before she got around to making a vocal protest, the contents of the vial had been dumped unceremoniously down her throat.

It tasted like tar. Felt like glue on the way down. She gagged and sputtered and a hand went to cover her mouth. "Hold it down, girl." That was Snape again. Not quite as sour as before, but definitely not pleased in the slightest. The pounding in her head ceased rather quickly and she blinked in adjustment to the light. She pushed Snape's hand away from her, and he stood up abruptly, causing her to fall backward onto the bed. Apparently he had been the one holding her up. He studied her face with deliberation.

"You look fine to me. Let's go." Snape took a step backward giving her room to stand up. She stood, taking a moment to ensure her balance. She looked to Madam Pomfrey, and to her surprise saw the Headmaster standing beside the wizened healer. "Go on," he said to her, a kindness bordering on sympathy emanating from his sparkling blue eyes.

She was obviously hesitant, but followed the dark wizard out the door anyway. She stayed one step behind him, not because she felt inferior but because she frankly could not match his stride.

"Please tell me what happened."

"I will not discuss that with you in public," was his answer.

"What public, there's no one here!"

"The walls themselves have eyes and ears in this place. I will not discuss with you what most certainly would become rumor in the morning." His voice was low, but no longer abrasive. It wasn't by choice. He knew his anger would return after a good night's rest. But there was the matter of his classroom that needed to be dealt with before any discussion was warranted.

He didn't thrust a cauldron of soapy water in her hand this time. "Under the circumstance that I would _not_ have classes to teach in the morning, I assure you that you would be in here through tomorrow cleaning up this mess, magic aside. However, I believe your _Reparo_ charm needs exercising. This weekend you will accompany me to Hogsmeade for as many trips as it takes to re-stock every ingredient that was wasted on your little episode." He pulled out his wand.

Halo's jaw dropped. "Episode? Is that what that was?" Her tone dripped with sarcasm. "Well I guess that explains that… but it just leaves out one little detail… _What in Merlin's name did I do?"_

"I have neither the strength nor the patience to discuss it with you now. But rest assured I _will_ be discussing it with you tomorrow when you return for detention in the evening." Snape swept to the corner where most of the glass had gathered and began spouting recovery charms about the piles.

Bewildered, Halo stood for a moment, debated pressing the issue, and decided against it. Her headache was returning and all she wanted was to go to bed and sleep for a week.

And Snape was too dizzy to argue. He thanked whatever powers that were for restraining Halo from any more rubbish she could kick up, and dismissed her off to her room some time around dawn with strict instructions to go straight there, no side trips.

Which she did, and found a note attached to her door.

_Halo,_

_How did detention go? I waited around for a while sometime near midnight, (being a hall monitor does have its privileges!) to see if you were all right afterward, but I guess Snape must have kept you busy. I'll pick you up before breakfast so you can tell me all about it._

_- Olli_

"Ugh… before breakfast… that's what… in twenty minutes?" she said to herself. "Forget it." She flopped down on the bed and was asleep before her head hit the pillow…

… and was awakened not ten minutes later by someone knocking and then rather insistent yelling at her door. She rolled out of bed and hit the stone floor with a dull _thud_. "I'm up!" she hollered, tying her dark, almost raven-colored hair back and stumbling to the door, which swung open at her touch. "What?"

Oliver Wood was there, of course, but also standing in her doorway was Marcus Flint. Two Quidditch captains, and both sporting relentlessly superior attitudes, each believing themselves to possessing a better reason to be at her door. Flint was the first to speak.

"Professor Snape wanted me to remind you that…" he counted on his fingers to make sure that, in his Neanderthal cranium, he had it right, "… should you miss any classes today you will be serving detention not only tonight but for the rest of the week as well." He smirked triumphantly. "You'd better not lose us any house points." He glared at his rival captain, spun on his heel and marched off toward the Great Hall for breakfast.

Oliver looked dazed. "Detention… again?" He let himself into Halo's room, and she closed the door behind him. "Halo, you look terrible. Tell me what happened." He settled in a chair across from her bed and folded his arms across his chest.

With a huge sigh, she began. "I'm not sure I should tell you until I know what I did… I know I did something. I haven't figured it out yet and the _Grand Potions Master_ in all his infinitely bitter wisdom wouldn't tell me. He said he'd discuss it with me tonight." She stifled a yawn.

Oliver had to fight himself not to get up and lead her to a chair to prevent her from falling asleep standing up. "You never went to bed last night, did you?"

She shook her head miserably.

"Does this have anything to do with some alarm that went off? I heard one when I was on my way up to bed." He searched her expression, and saw something flash across her face, but she hid it almost immediately."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes you do. Halo, I won't tell anyone. You know that." He watched her straighten her robes uncomfortably.

Halo bit her lip. "I don't think I should tell you what I know right now. Not until I find out myself."

He nodded. "Just let me know when you find out. And don't think it'll scare me away; if there's any possibility of that it would have happened a long time ago. But since there's nothing else to do and you don't want to miss any classes today, we should go up to breakfast." he pulled himself up from the chair and followed her out the door.


	4. Tension

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART FOUR: TENSION 

Snape didn't show up in the Great Hall for breakfast.

_That's real nice. I have to go two days straight without sleep, but **he** can just take off whenever he feels like it. That's just great._ Halo rubbed her eyes sleepily, trying not to fall face first into her oatmeal. She glanced over to the Gryffindor table, where Oliver was sitting with the rest of his Quidditch team, talking and laughing about something. _It must be great to have more than just one friend_, she thought to herself, looking longingly at the group. In one swift motion, despite her exhaustion, she dumped the bowl of sticky, lukewarm cereal upside down on the table and strode sulkily out of the hall.

Oliver saw her leave… but then who didn't when she kicked the door of the Great Hall open with a loud _BANG!_ "Be back in a sec…" he excused himself from the group and jogged to catch up with her. "Halo!" he called in the hallway.

She was at the bottom of the stairs and turned to wait up for him. Heaving a sigh, she turned off her pitiful expression and exchanged it for the tired one she'd worn earlier. 

"Not going to finish breakfast?"

She shook her head.

"Halo, tell me what's wrong." He stepped closer, but made no move to touch her, even though all he wanted to do was hug his friend and tell her that everything would be all right. He watched as she lowered herself to sit on the bottom step, and he sat down beside her. He decided to voice his earlier need. "I know you hate to be touched, and I respect it… but I have to tell you, all I want to do right now is hold you. You have no idea how a simple touch can dramatically alter a person's disposition. And you're my friend, so I want to help you."

Halo sniffled. "Why are you so nice to me? All I ever do is hurt people."

"Because I know you can be so much more than that. You make me laugh. And… I feel safe when I'm around you, as strange as that sounds."

"You don't pity me? The miserable little outcast who has no friends?" Tears were beginning to drip down her cheeks and her voice was unsteady. She was trembling.

"You have me," he murmured, barely a whisper. "And no, I don't pity you, not in the slightest. But I do feel for you, though I wonder what goes through your head when you get into one of your moods."

"I don't want to be _me_ anymore."

"Then who do you want to be?"

"I don't know. Someone else. Someone with a clean slate." She ran her arm back and forth across her nose to cease the tingling she felt from all the sniffling.

"I'll tell you this much… I don't want you to change who you are, because I like you that way. And everyone else could like you the way I see you as well. I think perhaps you just need to change some of your less… _desirable_ behaviors."

"Like hurting people."

"For starters."

"I won't let them hurt me."

"You don't have to. But then, even in the off-chance that someone does hurt you, and I don't mean physically, you should consider being the stronger person and accept the challenge of fixing the problem instead of hurting them back." He bent forward to bring her lowered face into view. "Am I making sense?"

Halo let out a small giggle between her tears. "If my…" she unexpectedly gulped and sneezed at the same time, not only producing a very odd sound but also forcing a few hiccups before she was able to speak again. "If Professor Snape had a friend like you, he'd probably be a lot different, don't you think?"

"Snape? No way. The man is unchangeable," he laughed.

"You're probably right… if he ever stopped being bitterly irritated he'd probably drop dead. So would most of the student body, from shock."

Oliver burst out laughing. He remembered just then why she was his friend.

Halo allowed herself to recover from the giggling episode before reverting to the earlier matter. "If you help me, I will try," she admitted bravely.

"Of course I will." His heart leapt, as it often did at the end of a Quidditch game ending in victory. He gently took her hand and squeezed it, knowing that if she was ever going to accept his touch, this was the time.

Halo was startled, to say the least. She started to pull away, but something stopped her. If the whole _being-the-stronger-person_ thing was going to work, she would have to learn to trust him. No one else at first, but at least to trust _him_. She struggled not to hyperventilate. It was an unpredictable sensation, but felt in no way unsafe.

His hand was warm and soft. The ball of his thumb ran slowly across her skin, pulling the tension and anxiety away from her. His eyes met hers and held her gaze unwaveringly. 

"Tell me if you want me to stop."

"I don't want you to stop," she admitted bravely. 

He gave her a reassuring smile. "Do you think you can get through the day all right, or should we give Madam Pomfrey some excuse for why she should keep you locked up for a few hours?"

"No… I have to get through today. I can't go over his head again… like I did with the situation yesterday."

"Then you're a lot braver than I am. I'd be running to Madam with a fake bludger-induced headache." He stood and used the hand that was still holding hers to pull her to her feet. "Shall we be off to Advanced Potions, then?"

Oliver dropped her hand as the students began filtering out of the Great Hall and heading for their first classes of the day. Not because he was ashamed to be seen holding her hand, quite the contrary actually. But he knew she had an image to uphold, and he didn't want to disrupt her reputation. After all, it was up to her to decide, when she was ready, whether it would be appropriate to show affection, if she even did, and how she would go about showing it.

"Ugh. I suppose, I just have to stop by my room before class."

They walked side by side down to the dungeons, pausing to collect her books from her room. The corridor was unusually humid, and a slight odor hung in the air, becoming more evident as they came closer to the Potions classroom. It hadn't been there last night, so it must have been some delayed reaction from the massive spill on the stone floor. At least an even stronger fragrance of abrasive cleanser was present; the house elves must have taken over where they had left off that morning.

"I wonder if he'll even be teaching this morning," she muttered to herself.

"Why wouldn't he be teaching?" He had obviously heard her.

"He wasn't at breakfast. I bet he's taking the liberty of sleeping in. I wonder if we'll have a substitute or if he'll cancel class altogether?"

"I hadn't noticed he wasn't there. But I guess you would, having spent all night in detention with him." A sudden theory washed over him, his stomach plummeted to his feet and he turned chalk-white. He stopped in the corridor and placed a hand on her arm to stop her. "He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Oh no, nothing like that."

Oliver took a moment to catch his breath; his stomach regained its proper altitude in his body and his face returned slowly to its normal color. He brushed his short hair back with his fingers and heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry for the reaction. It just hit me, and now I'm feeling like a bad friend for not coming up with that earlier. I imagine you must think I'm crazy."

Halo cocked an eyebrow. "Sometimes. But then I'm sure you think the same of me."

"Indeed."

"It may not matter to you what I think, but in the interest of being on time for class I believe it should be of significant importance to you both to get into the classroom before I start deducting points." This came from a low, bitterly gleeful voice just behind them.

Neither of them had to guess who it was. Oliver froze and Halo sighed in exasperation.

The low voice spoke again. "If you're not planning on attending my class then you'd best be out of my way. You're blocking the door."

Halo took Oliver by the sleeve of his robes and pulled him into the classroom and to their seats in the back row.

"I guess he's not sleeping in," Halo whispered sarcastically.

"Do you have something you'd like to share with the class, Miss Mandelor?" Snape announced from the podium at the front of the classroom.

"No, Sir."

"Then I suggest you keep your personal commentary out of my classroom."

Halo made a face, but Snape made no move to challenge her for it, and that's assuming he'd even seen it. He went on lecturing as usual.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There was no lab work to be done that morning, due to the lack of supplies, so there was sure to be a quiz the next day based on the fourteen pages of notes Halo had gathered that day. Oliver had written twenty-six, but then his script was considerably more detailed and less orderly, as he had to write quickly to keep up with Snape's instructions.

Halo, on the other hand, had a better sense of Snape's underlying messages. She had also devised a shorthand code which made the formulas simpler. Snape would be overjoyed to take house points if he saw her notes, as he would never understand them and think she was passing coded notes in his class without his knowledge. But did she care?

Not really.

The class let out five minutes late.

"If I don't see you later, good luck with detention tonight and I want to hear all about it tomorrow." Oliver waved her off after class and headed up to some advanced charms class, where the students utilized the power within them to learn such abilities as Apparation. Halo, on the other hand, was off to her History of Magic class.

She had to struggle to stay awake during Professor Binn's lecture. He brought in Sir Nicholas to help reenact some valiant fight to the death in which the champion beheaded his victim, and Nearly Headless Nick was just ecstatic playing out the fatality. The class clapped in delight at the performance, startling Halo back to consciousness, but just barely.

In Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall took Halo aside after she nodded off for the third time in a quarter-hour period.

"I was informed of your… activities of last night, are you quite all right?" The old witch seemed genuinely concerned.

Halo nodded bravely.

Professor McGonagall raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I understand that Professor Snape had you up all night cleaning. I can send you up to the hospital wing for some rest…"

"No, he'll think I went over his head. Thank you, Professor. I appreciate it, but I have to get through today on my own."

The elder witch gave Halo an understanding smile and sent her back to her seat. Halo tried even harder to stay awake.

At lunch, she put her head down on the table next to her bowl of vegetable soup and didn't wake up until the students were filing out of the Great Hall for their afternoon classes.

She was dragging her feet by the time she arrived in the doorway of the Potions classroom that evening.

Snape was behind his desk, scribbling viciously on a scroll of parchment. _Probably some innocent First-Year's homework_, Halo pondered.

"Are you going to stand there all evening until you pass out from exhaustion or are you going to come in here and take some Pepper-Up so we can once and for all finish your detention." This was not a request, nor was it even a question.

Halo closed the door behind her and went to the bottle of Pepper-Up sitting on the edge of the Professor's desk.

"Don't break it before you drink it, it's the last of my stock and I don't feel like going to the hospital wing to retrieve more for you."

Halo let that one go. There was no way she was going to pass up the only chance she would have at being awake to get through the night and avoid coming back for further detentions later in the week. Removing the stopper, she drank what little was left in the vial.

The effect was immediate. Her eyelids regained their elasticity and the heavy, drugged feeling that had been weighing her down since that morning faded to nothingness. She had only taken enough to last an hour, but it was a start.

"Sit down," the dark man said as he replaced his quill in its proper place and rolled up the parchment.

Halo sat. She vowed not to become angry, to sit still and be a good little girl. Even for him. She didn't know how long she could tolerate this self-inflicted code of conduct, but she was damned if she was going to let this stop her from being the better person.

Snape folded his hands in front of him on the hard wood of his desk.

"I suppose now would be a practical moment to inform you what the Headmaster and I determined _not_ to disclose to you long ago. Now that you've discovered what you can do, you must decide whether to learn to wield it properly or to abandon it altogether. It is entirely up to you how you choose to deal with it." He paused.

"I… think I understand, well, some of it… you think I have some power that I don't know how to use. But what it is, I have not yet figured out. I assume you know, but you want me to think about it first." She spoke softly, carefully, as not to provoke a damaging turn in the dialogue.

"Very good assessment," Snape said, raising a pleased eyebrow. I didn't think you would be able to identify the case, but then it is quite rare. He moved around his desk to stand in front of her, picking up a book from the shelf to his right. He brought a stool to the other side of the table and seated himself, set the volume down in front of her and began to flip through the pages.

"Do you know what a Siren is, Halo?"

A wave of shock overtook her. She tried to mask it. "Uh… I think so… Professor Binns covered them briefly at the end of last year, but they weren't on the final. Aren't they half-human birds, sort of like a Centaur is a half-human horse? The ones who lure men to them and then kill them…" Halo hoped this guess would prove adequate to Snape.

It did not.

He simply rolled his eyes, and rubbed his forehead. Clearly he hadn't saved any Pepper-Up for himself.

"Some… less informed people… believe them to be half bird, others, half fish. The truth has been systematically covered up for centuries. This book has been kept safely hidden by a small group of dark witches who would prefer that our world not know of them. A group of Siren witches, not to put too fine a point on it. They are not half animal, but fully human, which means they could be _anyone."_ He turned the book around, open to the appropriate page and pointed to a paragraph.  "Read it."

"How did you get this?"

"That is none of your concern. Read it." For a man with roughly the social aptitude of the Bubonic Plague, he was being moderately pleasant.

Halo fixed her eyes on the paragraph's beginning. "Her voice was of the darkness, but the sound She made was of pure light," she began.

"Go on."

Halo took a deep breath and began a translation of the Latin text. "She calls unto him, luring him with her sweetness and then tearing down the order of his rational mind. She possesses his soul, sings away his spirit and leaves his ego slain." She looked up. "What does all this mean?"

"Read the next part."

"I…"

**_"Read it!"_**

Halo began to shake. She did as she was told.

"She, the _Creator of Death_, releases the soul to blend into the consciousness of the universe… She is the bearer of a message to which he is… afraid to listen."

"It is the lost book of the Siren." He took the book from beneath her hands and closed it. Moving toward his shelf, he replaced it with his collection of restricted literature and locked it behind a ward.

"What does this have to do with me?"

He turned around, walked back to desk and sat opposite her. "You broke every piece of glass in this classroom simultaneously with one sound. The sound you created was none other than the raw, unfinished voice… of a Siren."


	5. Secrets

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N: Explanations to come, don't worry.

PART FIVE: SECRETS 

Halo blinked. Her mouth fell open. Realization and fear flooded her brain and spilled over onto her nerves as she comprehended what the Potions Master had just told her. She began to shake her head. "I don't want it."

Snape attempted to raise an eyebrow, but his tired expression couldn't manage it. Beyond being too tired to force punishment on her resistance, he resolved to allow her to choose her own fate. "I don't suppose you intend to hear me out, in which case, you may spend the evening doing exactly what I had planned for you yesterday. However, if you can behave like a normal human girl while I explain it to you, I just might permit you to get a good night's sleep tonight. What will it be?" 

Halo swallowed the lump of icy rage in her throat, cemented her jaw to her top row of teeth, folded her hands in front of her and stared at him intently. _I can behave, really I can… as long as I can go to bed afterward_, her mind told her mouth.

Snape took in a deep breath, accepting the surrender of her attention. "I have already spoken to the Headmaster, and you _will_ be trained. Against my better judgment, Headmaster Dumbledore wishes you to realize your full potential in hopes that the abilities you will gain may be of use in the future. But once your education is complete, whether or not you choose to use your skill will be entirely up to you."

He paused to allow her to absorb this.

Anxiety swelled in the pit of her stomach. Her first reaction was that of terror and disgust. _I won't let him turn me into a monster. I'm just enough of one already, thank you very much_. She swallowed hard. _Besides, Sirens are dirty, deceptive killers. I may be underhanded and I'm definitely rotten, but I'm no murderer. How can they want me to become something so awful?_

When it appeared that she had grasped the concept fully, or at least wasn't openly resistant, he continued.

"Before you ask, you did not receive this power as a genetic abnormality; it is completely random in each individual, but extremely rare, and only inherent in females."

_So essentially, it's not my fault or the fault of my parents that I have it. Great. Like I can look to them to support me through this anyway_. Unadulterated sarcasm piled on pure trepidation.

"Exactly how far you ability may extend, I cannot tell you." Snape's voice was considerably less hostile than before. "The traits are quite diverse in each case. Those who begin to display their abilities are frequently driven into exile by people who are afraid of what they do not understand and believe everything they hear, which is a considerable percent of the population. It is imperative that you remain quiet on the subject, for your own safety."

Bitterness edged into her subconscious. _Since when is he concerned with my safety? Don't worry, I won't say it… but he can't stop me from thinking it._ She watched his neck expand slightly as he smothered a yawn and she had to repress a snort.

Snape caught on and his eyes flashed dangerously to keep her in check. He halted the monologue just long enough for her to remember her place. Moving behind his desk, he drew out a notebook from a drawer and returned to his stool.

"The journal will tell you much of what you need to know. I don't need to inform you the consequences of it being discovered." With a twitch of his wand he transfigured the flimsy pages to a hardcover book. It read, _"The Monster Book of Monsters."_

How appropriate, a book no one would likely pick up.

Snape was just about out of patience. "Read the first section and I'll begin your training tomorrow evening. Now go."

_Knock, knock._

"Enter." Snape's voice was edgy, and no doubt ready to strike.

Marcus Flint appeared in the doorway. "I need help with the assignment." The young man's demeanor was of a self-satisfied and very spoiled brat. He sneered at Halo.

Snape thrust the book in Halo's arms. "I'd advise you to take your questions to the appropriate teacher," he snapped at her. "Don't bother me with this again."

Halo raised an eyebrow, caught the hint and backed out of the classroom, intentionally bumping Flint into one of the desks. "Sorry," she muttered sarcastically.

Halo reached her room in record time, no mischievous side-trips taken, no vengeful cravings acted upon. She slammed the door behind her, launched herself onto her bed, bringing the journal down with her, and let out a huge sigh.

"I can't handle this right now," she said out loud.

Luna was perched on the back of a chair and clicked her beak in agreement.

And indeed she couldn't handle it, for she succumbed to sleep fully dressed in her robes and clutching the journal which rested in her hands. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She wasn't prepared to handle it in the morning either, nor was she prepared to tell Oliver what happened, because she knew she couldn't keep it a secret from him for very long. And anything he could possibly find out could hurt and terrify him very deeply.

_I'd be shocked, but it would be just like him to shrug and say, "So?"_ she thought as she wandered through the dungeon corridors early in the morning before anyone had awakened. _But I know better. He'll probably act all nice about it, but I'll see how afraid he is. He'll do everything he can to avoid me. And being the kind of person I am, I'll let him get away with it… won't I?_ Inner conflict seared through her_. And I can't keep it from him… he'll start to ignore me if I push him away for too long. I'm doomed to be feared and ignored either way… and will he tell everyone when he finds out?_ She sighed in moral defeat.

She decided to avoid him at all costs and went as far as to skip breakfast and reached the Potions classroom fifteen minutes early. She convinced one of Slytherin's Beaters, Abel Ordwin, to be her lab partner… which wasn't all too difficult considering that the great ape's comprehension level was comparable to that of a wildebeest.

"Don't think you can use my other lab partner every day, _Halo,_" Flint said her name with disgust. You may have everyone else fooled, but I see you're nothing but a craven weakling who has nothing better to do than destroy everything in her path and rely on teachers to protect her."

He moved to face his other crony, the other Slytherin Beater, who was indicating something vulgar in another direction. He snickered and turned back to Halo, baring his obscenely crooked teeth.

"And by the way,  Professor Snape won't be able to help you with your lessons anymore. He'll be too busy coaching the Slytherin Quidditch team." He said _Slytherin_ as though Halo had no place in that particular House. 

It was times like these when she had doubts about her membership in the darkest of the Hogwarts houses. _It's better to be in limbo sometimes than to be the butt of critical jokes_, she thought.

_Oh if you only knew what I know… you wouldn't have that despicable smirk on your face, Marcus Flint_. This was one time when her unrevealed ability could be used in her favor. She admitted to herself that she'd give almost anything to see terror in the brute's eyes.

The ugly Quidditch Captain's face, complete with hideously crooked teeth, was just too impossibly revolting at that moment; it was almost comical. Halo was unable to stifle a sudden giggle.

"Are you laughing at _me?"_ he demanded.

"Oh no, I'm not laughing at you… just… _near_ you."

The classroom door banged open then, signaling the entrance of the Potions Master. Halo remembered her place and present circumstances, and hence wiped the smile from her face.

Snape gave a little glance of approval in her direction as he took his place at the podium. He seemed to consent with a tiny air of surprise the fact that she'd apparently begun to take her place in Slytherin House, consorting with those in that house, and away from that do-gooder Gryffindor, Wood. _But what he doesn't know_, Halo thought deceptively, _could make him very, very angry with me. Hmmm… I must find a way to use this to my advantage…_

"Your Veritaserum attempts were absolutely shameful. Might I remind you that your graduation from this school depends on your performance in this class. Anyone who does not submit a working potion by the end of this session will lose more house points than their house presently possesses. Get to work." Snape swirled his cloak and went behind his desk to grade papers.

Apparently, he had sent out for potions ingredients. As Snape eyed the now bustling classroom warily, Halo dropped the truth-potion's components into the cauldron she shared with the big oaf sitting next to her and silently wished she'd been Oliver's partner. She knew he'd need more help than he was getting from his bright but unprepared Gryffindor lab partner.

She glanced back to look at him, busily and rather nervously emptying bottles into his mixture. _I'm so sorry, Oliver_, she willed to him.

Fortunately by the end of class, most of the teams had produced working serums and Gryffindor House was only deficient of thirty points. Slytherin, however, had earned themselves fifty, not surprisingly, and Snape looked quite pleased with himself as the students packed up their books.

Halo was first out the classroom door, hoping to escape to her next class before Oliver could catch up.

No such luck.

"Halo, wait up!" Oliver reached her side, panting slightly.

"Aaargh!" she groaned, angry that he had caught up with her, and anxious that he would press her for more information than she was willing to give.

Oliver's hands went up in front of him in defensive surrender. "Whoa, I just wanted to see if you were all right, maybe find out how last night went, that's all."

"Please don't ask me to tell you anything right now," Halo begged, continuing up the stairs, her books clutched to her chest.

"Why not? You look like someone beat you with a stick. Please tell me what happened." He got in front of her, forcing her to stop in front of him. She didn't look up.

"Oliver, I'm going to tell you this just once… I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Don't want to talk about what?" he prodded, trying to trick her into spilling. It was one of the few ways he knew of to get her to open up to him.

"Nothing… just… it's nothing."

"Well if that's all, do you want to come watch Quidditch practice tonight? We could use all the cheerleaders we can get…"

_How dare he turn this from me to him!_ she thought loudly, the silent words echoing through her head. Before she could regain control, she let some spill.

"Look, I discovered something about myself that would scare you so badly you'd probably keel over where you stand. Go find another friend, someone who will tell you everything you want to hear." When the last part had fully come out she was sorry she'd said it.

"No, Halo. I am _your_ friend. And I don't see how anything you would tell me could possibly scare me away. And I don't just want you to tell me what I want to hear, I want the truth… because I want to help you." His eyes searched her face for any form of resignation, any wavering of the impenetrable wall she'd erected around herself.

Halo turned her sad eyes up to him, disbelief washing over her. He really was a true friend. "Then leave me be. I… I'll tell you when I am ready."

She pushed past him and went up the stairs.

Oliver let his head drop in acceptance. She really was a tough one. But he liked her, that's what mattered to him. And he felt he'd do anything to help her see that.


	6. Assault

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART SIX: ASSAULT 

She had to break something. Destroy… anything.

She was pushing away the best friend she'd ever had, the _only_ friend, for that matter. And the frustration that she may lose him over this made her itch to smash every chandelier, knock over every suit of armor, shred every painting in the castle until she faced expulsion from the school.

She felt like a time bomb.

And it was most definitely ticking, more and more loudly through her body as moments passed, feeling like whiplash seconds and dreaded ages simultaneously.

 But she had to keep her cool. Her own Head of House had threatened her with consequences if she should take her temper out on school property again. She clenched her fists until her knuckles were white, and the only reason she wasn't drawing blood from her palms was because her nails had been bitten to the quick by the end of Transfiguration that afternoon.

Tick, tock… 

_Damn him!_ Untainted hostility.

Her room yielded to a thorough beating instead. This was no time to commend herself on just how long she'd been able to go without releasing her anger upon the world. When her tantrum had ceased and her _Reparo_ charm was exhausted, she fell face-down on the bed and screamed into a pillow.

Around the bedroom, every object rattled precariously on its perch, many threatening to take a nosedive to the floor. But her screams subsided when she realized just what she was doing.

She wiped away tears that had shamefully scurried down past her chin.

I can't do this to myself, I just can't… 

But she knew she had to. One way or another.

It was as simple as this: to choose either to hide this curse by way of strict adherence to solitude, or to let the secret out and have everyone running for cover. Either way, she wasn't winning any points for popularity.

She stared loathingly at the disguised book that had been tossed onto a pile of robes on the floor. _I'm probably going to regret this._

She picked it up, flopped it open on the bed and stared at the first page.

"This had better be worth it," she said out loud.

The pages of the transfigured journal, though bound in aged leather now, were still scribbled in Snape's painstakingly slanted script.

Halo closed her eyes and pondered, finding no practical conclusion. Eyes still closed and brow furrowed, she spoke to… absolutely nobody. "Why would a man who cares nothing for anyone, let alone me, take the time to write all this for my _supposed_ benefit?"

Her face froze in with further contemplation, but when no self-enlightenment came, she shook herself free of the sticky thought and read the page.

A bit of background, and might I remind you, this first page is dedicated for the sole purpose of having you differentiate between popular fiction and truth.

A Siren, once developed, has the power to… influence a man's mind. Other females are oblivious to it. In history… and might I remind you that this is the popular history, WHICH MEANS THAT IT IS not to be believed, a Siren frequently turned a male to her favor, much to the dismay of her new interest's female partner, that is assuming he had one. I must interject that there are very few men who can resist a Siren's polished voice; this at least is true. She would then pull a "black widow" on him and drain his life energy.

_This ends all fictional aspects of the information you require__._

"Well that's a relief." The words emphasized in all capital letters provided some clarity, and definitely some comfort. "So I'm not a killer. But then what am I?" She realized she was still talking to herself, shook her head and continued down the page.

"Now, for the part which you should believe, and it's true because I'm telling you it is. Sirens are not soul-sucking Dementors. They are not promiscuous and they do no steal other women's partners. And moreover, they do not kill their prey when they are finished. Sirens simply have an effect on men which can only be described as an invocation of his undesired reality… her resonance forces certain thoughts to surface. One's voice can force a man against his will to come to terms with a thought or action which he has passed off as "unavoidable," that he has convinced himself of his innocence, and then she forces him to realize his morality. This emotionally brutal self-realization can often drive a man mad. And this, in all its simplicity and brilliance, is why men fear Sirens. And in the patriarchic history of truth, women are influenced by men to fear them as well, which is why in the present time, almost every person in the wizarding world who is aware of the existence of Sirens fears them."

And fear is what will keep you from revealing yourself, if you're as intelligent as you have proven to be in the past.

A flat compliment?

He must have skipped a vital dose of his cruelty potion when he wrote that.

The page flashed suddenly, and new words sprouted from the seams, curling past the corners and flowing onto the next, empty page.

_He must plan to write this as he goes along…_ She snorted. _I suppose it is rather comforting that he knows about as much about this as I do. Perhaps the man isn't as high and mighty as he seems to think_.

A horizontal note scribbled more vicariously along the edge of the second page caught her eye. _10:00 in my classroom. Don't be late_.

Halo sighed in irritation. "Either he's aware of every time I open the damned thing or he just expects that I'm following his instructions to read the damned thing. _Now why on earth would I want to do that?" _The last statement dripped with sarcasm.

She slammed the book shut. Glancing toward the sundial on her windowsill, she saw that she had missed dinner, and that she was due in the Potions classroom in an hour.

A double thump at the door made her swing her head around so hard she almost lost her balance. "Coming," she called and stashed the book underneath her mattress. She cranked the handle on her door and pulled it open.

Standing rather purposefully in the doorway was Oliver Wood, looking both timid and determined, and carrying a tray laden with food from dinner in the Great Hall.

Before she could shoo him away he had stepped just inside her room, holding out the tray for her to take. "Here. I didn't come to make you tell me anything. I just don't want you to starve in your efforts to avoid me."

Halo took the tray, and offered him a thankful half-smile, for it was all she could afford. "I'm not trying to avoid you… I just have a lot to think about."

"I understand. I'm headed to meet the team for a late Quidditch practice, but other than that, I'll be around when you need me." He retreated through the open door. _'When,'_ he thought, _Not 'if.'_

"Thank you. You are truly a good friend."

He nodded and pulled the door closed, leaving Halo standing with the tray in her arms. The scents crawling out from underneath the cover over the plate reminded Halo just how hungry she was. She took the tray to her desk and wolfed down everything but the plate and utensils.

Luna flapped through the open window and chittered indignantly when the blue owl saw that no scraps had been left for her.

"Sorry girl, I forgot." Halo fished an owl treat from her desk drawer and offered it to the ruffled pet, but Luna turned up her beak.

"Have it your way." Halo dropped the treat into Luna's food tray and noticed with triumph that the annoyed owl waited a moment before scurrying over to the dish and retrieving the treat.

Halo sighed loudly and flopped onto her bed again. She clasped both hands around her stomach and groaned, "Ugh… I ate too fast." She began to feel slightly nauseated, but at the same time stupidly sleepy from the overabundance of nourishment in her system. She allowed herself to lie there for a good forty minutes, digesting, and absentmindedly counting the square stones on the ceiling. There were four hundred ninety-seven, she knew this already from the previous years sitting alone in her room, but it was a serene pastime nonetheless.

Luna sprang from her perch, obviously finished with her nap, and floated out the window and into the night sky, probably off to the Dark Forest in search of a fresh catch for supper. The noise the owl made upon takeoff had startled Halo to proper wakefulness, and she sat up, rubbing her face. Groaning at her inevitable destination, she rose to her feet and forced herself out the door.

Snape was behind his desk, quite engrossed in his red-inked quill and student papers when she arrived.

Halo took a seat behind the front student desk and waited, considerably patiently, for him to conclude whatever it was she could guess he was doing. He made no move to convey to her that he knew she was there until he finished the last scroll.

"Lesson number one: what I say, goes." Snape hadn't yet made eye contact, but he was pushing the bundle of papers aside and closing the recording book on his desk. A fine puff of dust emitted from the volume as its heavy front cover closed with a thud.

"Lesson number two," Snape swept down from his elevation to seat himself across from her, emanating a dangerously intense aura. He folded his arms over the desk and leaned on his elbows, looking her straight in the eye. "If you put it upon yourself to violate the first rule in any way, you'll wish you'd never met me."

Halo raised an eyebrow in a sort of acknowledgement. _Is that a promise?_ she thought, challenging him.

Snape seemed to have heard that silent release, for he looked ready to fry some unsuspecting First Year in boiling oil. Or his head might explode, either event suited him. Unfortunately for him and very fortunate for her, he had not actually heard the antagonistic and purely mental remark and could do nothing to make her ashamed of it. He forced himself to return to his usual bitter but non-hostile state.

"Now, let me explain what you will be doing to build your skills over the coming months. As I mentioned in your earlier reading…"

He droned on, covering in repetitive detail what she had read from his journal, and behaving as though he didn't trust her to read it thoroughly enough.

Halo couldn't stop herself from interrupting him.

"Everyone would be afraid of me. I know, I know. You wrote it in that book of yours."

Snape glared at her, his black eyes were venomous. "If I might be permitted to finish, Miss Mandelor," he spoke through gritted teeth, "or have you decided that listening to me is above you? Let me assure you, I'd rather those Muggles you live with had to deal with your less-than-willing mind." Apparently, the man had the potential to become even more livid.

Halo snorted. "The feeling is mutual." Oh, she would regret that one. The words came out before she could stop herself. But as usual, she wouldn't dare show it.

Snape's glare turned murderous. He drew his wand and pointed it at her… didn't he? Electrifying white sparks flew within inches of her left shoulder to the door, and a ward spread itself into every corner of the room. Halo visibly shook. She knew he had it in him to take her down, but she just hadn't pushed him this far before. Merlin knew he was capable of unspeakable things.

"How _dare_ you speak to me in that tone!" he growled with the ferocity of a rabid wolf. "After all I have done for you! And you once again deny me the respect of which you should be showing an abundance!" He twirled from his seat and swept to the dark stained glass window again behind his desk. He kept his back to her.

What, no intimidation? No further blistering remark about how much of a disappointment she was? _Wow,_ she thought. _I must really have hit the right nerve_. Her shaking subsided. Apparently she'd had a better effect on him than she'd first thought.

He was aware that she had left her seat and come to stand a few feet away, but she had made no sound. When he didn't speak for several minutes, Halo took the initiative. "I… don't suppose my apology would rectify the situation."

"It is not your apology I am looking for." His voice was so low, it was almost a whisper. He turned halfway around, but would not look at her, instead he let his eyes focus somewhere past her face. "You owe me the same unconditional respect you show for any other professor of this school. As I understand it, you would not behave this badly for Mr. and Mrs. DeMornay."

The reference to the couple who cared for Halo during the summer holidays sent a tingle up her spine, making her stiffen. She hoped he wouldn't begin comparing himself to them. To steer him off that track, he required a brutally honest account, a comparison from her own perspective.

"That's because they do not criticize, harass or belittle me. They accept me for who I am, and all the problems that come with who I am. They don't try to change me. They don't force anything on me. They don't drill things into my head more than once, because they know I'll ask questions if I don't understand. But most importantly, at least the way I see it, they respect _me_. You don't. And no respect is unconditional."

_The child has a point… the child…_ "You cannot expect me to respect a _child,"_ he challenged her.

"Then how am I ever to respect you? Or even like you, which apparently I'm supposed to, out of obligation!"

"I never once implied that I expect you to like me. And even if there was a mutual pleasantness between us, you know full well I cannot treat you preferentially."

"That's in public! What about now, when no one is around? You yourself locked the door!" Halo's voice reached a shrill note that brought Snape's eyes to rest upon her face. She mirrored the same spirit, that same defiant spirit he had found within himself at her age. Only his young spirit had driven him to the Dark Lord. 

The head of Slytherin House realized just how much control was slipping from his fingers. "You _will_ learn your place!" He swooped down on her and took her by the upper arms. "I will _not_ have you placing yourself in danger by questioning those above you." He shook her firmly on the word 'not.'

Halo pulled back, terrified. Her stomach churned violently at the panicked horror of his grasp and her face waved fear like a banner. Snape held on tight.

_Gods, I seem to have finally reached her_, he realized when he saw the intense terror in her eyes. "It's time you learned to value the opportunities presented to you before your lack of gratitude brings you to great harm."

Halo ceased struggling away from his grip, but her anger had mounted. She was cunning, that one. Snape gave her a fair look of warning and released his grip, unaware of her impending attack.

She backed away slowly, the anger and hatred bubbling to the surface, replacing the look of horror with barely controlled fury. _He set me free, and I'm going to let him know it._

Snape was aware of her sudden change in demeanor, and while he felt defeated by his latest effort to get control of the girl, he wasn't surprised at the failed attempt.

"I am not a hostage to be controlled!"

_"You_ are still a child, one who knows _nothing_ of the dangers of the wizarding world! If you cannot learn to heed my instructions…"

Halo cut him off. "That's just it! Whether or not I am safe has nothing to do with your control over me!"

"That has everything to do with it! There are Dementors guarding every exit to this school. Your lack of control over yourself will lead any one of them to take your life without a second thought!" Snape roared.

"You just don't get it, do you? I can control myself just fine! It's _you_ who drives me to do what I do. _You_ and your unwillingness to see that _I don't want to be you!"_

Her words hit Snape like a poisoned arrow. His last resolve conjured the only words he could think of. "You will do as I say, or I will have you expelled!"

Halo matched his furious glare. "Why are you so afraid of me? Stop acting like my jailor. Let me live!" Pure challenging fury.

Snape's eyes narrowed in bitterness. His voice was subdued and deadly. "Your style of 'living' has made me ashamed to be your father."

That did it. With one deep breath, Halo opened her mouth and Snape went flying backward into the stained glass window, which shattered on impact. The shrill sound was short, incredibly loud and precisely focused.

It took Halo a few seconds of silence to realize that nothing else in the room had been broken.


	7. Reverie

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART SEVEN: REVERIE 

Severus Snape lay in a crumpled heap on the floor. Being that there were metal bars on the other side of the glass, his body had simply bounced off and landed on the floor beneath the window.

There was no doubt about it: Halo was in shock.

She sank to her knees beside him, unaware of the glass shards that cut her palms as she attempted to hold herself steady.

_What have I done?_ Saliva pooled in the back of her mouth and her stomach twisted violently. _Please don't be sick… please don't be sick…_

It took more than a few minutes of deep, shuddering breaths to push down the acid rising in her throat, and then she sat back on her heels and looked at her stinging hands. Blood oozed from countless tiny cuts and ran in the parallel creases of her palms like crimson rivers.

Glass scraped on stone, and more shards fell to the floor. The Potions Master was regaining consciousness.

Snape was dimly aware of the glass around him. His heavy robes had taken most of the impact, leaving him unharmed in that respect but he could not escape the high-pitched ringing in his ears or the dull throbbing in his head. Using the heavy fabric to protect his hands, he pushed himself to a sitting position and sat back against the dungeon wall, rubbing his eyes. Then he remembered.

Halo was visibly shaking when Snape turned his glare on her.

"Follow me." Those were the only words he spoke for a long time. There was no conversation while he led her to a student table and made her sit while he pulled the tiny shards out of her hands with a pair of cleansed pincers. After the glass had been removed and dropped in a dish, he muttered _Reparo_ in the direction of the shattered window. The shards, including those he had just removed and those that clung to their clothes had whisked away like shiny, schooling fish to the broken window frame and assembled themselves in their original pattern. Then Snape turned back to her. The fact remained that Halo was in very deep trouble.

"You don't have to say it," Halo braved, pushing herself out if the chair with aching, blood-encrusted hands. "I'll go pack."

"Oh no you don't." Snape stepped into her path. "Your lesson isn't over." The ringing in his ears hadn't stopped… it was irritating, but he pushed past the incessant noise to the task at hand. He lifted his hand toward a shelf and called, _"Accio flask."_

A large tapered vial raced into his outstretched hand, and he grasped the cylindrical neck and set it on the desk in front of her. "Break it."

Halo looked at him like he was crazy.

"Well, what are you waiting for, mass-colonization in the arctic? I said break it!"

She gulped, reaching for the flask.

_"NO!_ Without touching it!"

Halo heaved a sigh and turned her eyes to the flask. She studied it for a few moments, then turned back to him. "I don't know how."

Snape grabbed her by the arm and shoved her onto her stool to face the glass container more directly.

_"Don't touch me!" _Halo shrieked, yanking her arm away from him with such force that she almost fell over.

"That's right, you just be angry with me! Why don't you hate me! Anything, just break it!" Snape shouted.

"I-don't-know-how!" Halo shouted right back.

"Yes you do!"

"I can't…"

"Of course you can't, you foolish girl! You can't do anything right!"

"Why are you doing this?" She demanded.

Snape slammed his fists onto the desk. _"Break it, you stupid girl!"_

_"I hate you!"_ Halo screamed, and the flask submitted to the sound.

So did many of the larger glass containers that lined his shelves.

But not all of them.

It was several seconds before either of them moved.

Remains of the shattered flask were strewn across the desk surface, spilling into her lap and onto the stone floor below. The room was spinning and darkness was caving in on her. She whirled to face him, exhausted disorientation quickly replacing the look of bitter triumph that had flashed across her features. "There, I did it…"

Snape caught her as she fell to the floor.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_What is this place?_ Halo discovered the sensation of floating… she had entered a dark place. She heard a light _drip… drip… drip…_ coming from somewhere far away and the thick cloud of fog encompassed her. It was terribly comforting.

The fog cleared all too quickly to reveal, sitting at a broken oak desk surrounded by a mess of melted candles and hastily rolled parchments, a much younger Severus Snape scribbled furiously a map of sorts. It was him, without a doubt. The same black hair and determined air about him. He didn't notice her arrival.

"Hello?" she called.

No answer.

_Funny_, she thought. _I wonder what this place is._

THUD.

Halo jumped a mile.

Scowling in irritation at being bothered during the night, he shoved the parchment into the desk, sealing the secret chamber as he left. He passed straight through Halo, as though she weren't there.

"Wicked!" she mused.

Another thud on the door.

Snape swung open the outer door, charging his expression of impassive hostility. It was one of many faces only Severus Snape could pull off.

"I realize that I owe you a life debt, Linnaeus, but that does _not_ mean I have to wait up for you at all hours of the night. Now out with it… what news?"

"My visit is of another nature." the visitor hobbled through the doorway. "I don't have much time. Death Eaters are tracking me." His cloak dripped puddles on the stone floor.

"Well then why in Merlin's name did you lead them here, Linnaeus?" Snape's voice hissed like a feral cat. He grabbed the smaller man by the collar of his cloak and backed him into a wall. "You wish to have us both discovered? You know what sort of information I keep here!"

"Of another nature, Severus! I plan to lead them away from here when I leave. I won't expose your name or any others I know if captured. What I must ask of you will save a very important life."

"Hopefully my own." Snape considered for a moment, tilting his head to the side. He loosened his grip on the other man's collar. "Spill it, before I end your miserable existence myself."

Linnaeus inhaled with a shudder. "I am going to give you… something. And you must not ask me of it's nature before you accept it. You must give me your word that you will keep it safe until such time that I can return for it."

Snape sighed heavily. "I assume that it's discovery by the Dark Lord will have many on our side killed." He had not offered to take the man's dripping coat. He did not wish the man to stay long… he rather irritatedly wished the man hadn't come dripping into his home in the first place.

"If the Dark Lord gets ahold of it, he will one day use it to bring destruction on those we are fighting to protect."

"You could have just said _Yes."_

"I'll consider your life debt to me void, Severus."

The words hooked his interest. "I don't suppose there's any other choice. At least it'll get your proverbial claws off me." He held out his arms. "I give you my word. But you _must_ lead them away from here immediately."

"You're doing the right thing. Please be careful with it." Linnaeus handed over the object wrapped in dark gray wool, rather hesitantly, Snape noted.

Snape took the bundle rather clumsily.

"Be careful!" the other man hissed.

Snape screwed up his face in an unpleasant scowl as he slightly more carefully unwrapped the bundle. He nearly dropped it when he saw, horrified, what the cloth contained.

A scrawny, newborn infant.

"What in Hell's name do you mean by giving me this… this thing!" Snape spit the words out like venom.

"You gave me your word, Severus! You must protect her at all costs." He backed away as Snape moved to hand the child back to him. "The note will tell you all you need to know. Thank you, my friend."

He Disapparated.

And Snape descended into a nearby chair in raging disbelief. He looked down at the child, sleeping peacefully in his arms, completely oblivious to the moment of shouting that took place around her own little ears. _Note? What Note?_ He searched the bundle for a piece of parchment which had nestled itself in a fold of cloth near the child's foot. He brushed against the child's skin as he moved to retrieve it.

The touch froze him; he could not break the contact he had made with the child's skin. Brilliant blue light flashed from the point of contact and grew until it surrounded them both.

"Oh no," Snape whispered. And he felt the bonding curse take him over.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Light swam into painful view as Halo's eyelids were peeled back, then released.

"Her pupils are dilated," announced a self-important voice. "She's not going anywhere tonight, so you can forget about taking her out of here." Was that Madam Pomfrey?

"Will the child suffer any lasting damage?" A wizened, age-softened voice queried.

Halo blinked, able to make out the silhouettes of three people standing over her through barely cracked eyelids. Her head throbbed painfully, and she didn't dare move for fear the pain would only increase.

"She looks all right to me. Wake her up." That one was, without a doubt, Snape.

"I will do no such th…" A shrill, appalled Pomfrey.

"She has been through enough, Severus. She will remain here tonight, undisturbed." He led the younger man away from Halo's bed.

"Headmaster, I must insist that she finish what she started!" Snape asserted.

"I trust you were able to reach her?"

A long sigh. "Yes."

"And?"

"She threw me into a window."

"Ah. I suppose the shattered glass explains what happened to her hands."

Snape nodded.

"It was unfortunate that you both were hurt in this exercise. Do you believe it is safe to have her removed from her private room and placed in the Slytherin dormitory? She needs the support and friendship of her equals. _And_ from you." The Headmaster raised an eyebrow at the last statement.

"I will _not_ discuss that particular issue with you, Albus, and I will thank you not to push the issue. That decision _was_ and _is_ mine alone to make, and I made it a long time ago." He paused for Dumbledore's silent understanding.

"The girl _has_ no equals," he continued. "Perhaps after further training…" Snape lowered his eyes as he felt the need to press a bothersome issue. "… Headmaster… I do not wish to be responsible for her education any longer. Get someone else to do it."

He heard Dumbledore sigh.

"That's just not possible, Severus. You know that no amount of training will suffice, whether it be from you or someone else. Her immediate future lies with you… others in the distant future, perhaps… but now, it is only you."

"The situation is exceedingly difficult to manage. The fact remains that she despises me. It will be impossible to complete her training with her worsening demeanor, which to my extensive knowledge is highly unbreakable."

"The reality is that you are taking offense to her negative feelings toward you, Severus. Might I remind you that no other student's opinion of you has ever held your attention long enough to evoke a response? Their actions surely do, but their opinion of you is an entirely other matter."

Snape shook his head in disbelief. "Headmaster… I took Halo in against my better judgment. Our… relationship… has never reached beyond formality. She cannot stand to be near me, and while I feel the need to despise her in return, that somehow feels… wrong. Damn it all, Albus, I'm not fit to be the girl's father." He turned away from Dumbledore. "I'm going to track down Linnaeus Mandelor and have him retrieve her. Perhaps he can reverse the bonding curse he so _nicely_ cast upon her while he's at it." He headed for the Hospital Wing door.

"Linnaeus is dead, Severus."

Snape froze where he stood. His horribly warm wool cloak provided no protection against the ice that rushed down his spine and diffused throughout his body. The feeling that one was totally screwed was a vile sensation indeed.

"That's… not possible…"

The ancient wizard placed a consoling hand on the younger man's black-robed shoulder. "I'm afraid it's true."

Snape sighed in utter defeat. "I'm stuck with her, then."

"That also, I'm afraid, is true. Linnaeus Mandelor was reported killed by the Death Eaters shortly after he left his meeting with you thirteen years ago. I assumed you had been told."

And then Severus Snape, a man of solid stature and a reputation for being hard as stone, sank to his knees.  _And all this time I thought you were alive, Mandelor, but in hiding. How could I have been such a fool? To think you would actually come back for her, as you said. But you sent your daughter here to haunt me. I hate you… I BLOODY HATE YOU!_

Dumbledore sighed. He knew the man's reaction had been coming for a long time. It was a rare thing to see the man break down like this. Having dealt with matters far worse on the scale of badness and coming through with an iron will was Snape's specialty. Dumbledore wouldn't dare compromise the man's dignity by consoling him further, though the denied ability to soothe the poor man hurt him deeply.

"There's more," the old man told him as Snape struggled to repress further emotional weakness and stumbled to his feet.

Snape swayed a bit once he had come to a standing position. His blank expression told Dumbledore that no words could possibly faze him. The younger man had completely shut down.

"The curse that was imposed upon the two of you has a side effect that no one could have expected…" the old man paused.

Snape didn't flinch, or even show the barest trace of interest. His opaque stare never once fixed on the Headmaster. "If you're waiting for a reaction, I suggest you tell it to someone else. Otherwise, I urge you to get on with it."

"The curse was not completed, as you well know. The incantation that seals the bond has been waiting to be performed since you first touched her…"

"I will _not_ complete it," Snape interrupted, his gaze remaining fixed on a stone wall. "I will _not_ subject myself to an imposition of foolish emotions that I have not built of my own free will." His jaw was set.

Dumbledore submitted to resignation of the subject. He sighed in defeat.

"Then she will die."


	8. Control

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART EIGHT: CONTROL 

A long, silent moment passed. In a far corner, Madam Pomfrey broke through the quiet as she adjusted her desk chair to reach for something. Dumbledore patted the man's shoulder. "At least, for her sake, make peace with the girl."

Snape swayed violently, but did not fall. His jaw was set. A feeling not unlike panic, but not quite despair… washed over him. He stilled his rapid breathing, and gritting his teeth, said, "After all these years, I still don't understand… how can this be so?"

The Headmaster sighed. "Once again… A half-completed curse leaves the subject 'in limbo,' for search of a better term, much the same as a half-finished and forgotten potion eventually boils over and is left to waste. She has had the first half of the curse forced upon her, as you also have. The only way to keep her from… 'boiling over'… is to complete the curse."

"Or else she'll fall subject to the curse and die," Snape concluded.

"That is correct. The signs are already here, in her inability to control some of her… less desirable tendencies."

Snape muttered something foul under his breath, something even the Headmaster couldn't identify.

"I'll leave you now, as I judge you have some serious thinking to do," the older man said and gave Snape another firm pat on the shoulder before leaving him to his thoughts.

And then Snape was alone. And he knew it.

He fled to the dungeons.

And ended up in Halo's childhood room, a place he hadn't set foot inside since the day she left. She had been under his care until she was four years old, at which time her inability to confine herself to their personal chambers warranted her being sent away for fear of her discovery by the students, some of whom undoubtedly had parents who still followed the fallen Dark Lord.

And then she would be obtained as an instrument of corruption to Snape and used for evil.

Even in Snape's twisted, callous thinking, he couldn't let that happen. She was a child, after all.

His child, at that. Or was she? He couldn't decide.

_"Damn you Linnaeus Mandelor!"_ Snape shouted into the stale air of the child's bedroom.

'Now, now Severus…' a small humanoid figure with a pure white aura popped onto his right shoulder. 'The child needs your compassion, not this bitter rage against someone she never knew.'

Another figure popped onto his left shoulder, this one sporting a racy pair of red horns. 'You're not listening to this nonsense, are you? Forget about the child. You shouldn't have been asked to take her in the first place.'

The light figure spoke again. 'Are you going to let your fear of this situation ruin your life, or are you going to finally do something you've promised yourself you would do?'

'You're a great, greasy prat! The child would never accept you!' This coming from the high-strung horned-one.

The one who first spoke looked past Snape to its rival. 'Discouraging him will not allow him to realize his full potential!'

'Forget his potential, what about his sanity?' The other snapped.

_"Enough!"_ Snape shouted. The opposing figures popped out of existence.

He stole over to Halo's old bed and reached for a graying, worn pillow… the one he had conjured for her to sleep with the night she had first come into his life. Halo had taken to the raggedy thing, dragging it wherever she went and refusing to let anyone take it from her, except on the rare occasion that Snape could tear it away from her for the House Elves to wash it.

It had been left behind when she was sent away.

Snape held the limp softness to his chest and breathed in its scent. A mix of her hair and hints of crayon, baby powder and dust flowed through his nostrils. The sweet smells clashed with the memory of him denying her permission to take the raggedy thing with her; it was oddly comforting and bitterly disheartening at the same time.

He stuffed the pillow into a deep pocket in his robes and headed for the Hospital Wing once more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Halo drifted, in a rather disturbing manner, into and out of consciousness. Her head was filled to capacity with memories and feelings, both recent and distant. And not one was pleasant. There might as well have been a disco ball implanted in her brain to go along with the _thud… thud… thud…_ of her head.

She had begun tossing in her bed for another round of thrashing when Snape reappeared at her bedside.

The child desperately needed comfort.

Madam Pomfrey, who was about to put the girl under a full-body-bind to prevent her from injuring herself, stood down when Snape waved her away.

Halo's arms were pressed to her chest, and she curled tightly on her left side, shaking.

Snape knelt to face her, and taking one of her hands, he was able to pry it away from her long enough to drop the ragged pillow into her arms. He sat back and waited for a reaction.

Halo's forehead wrinkled, then relaxed. Her arms drew the pillow into her face and her chest rose as she inhaled deeply.

Snape blew out the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

It was still dark on Saturday morning before he moved again.

Halo awoke on her side, still clutching the pillow to her chest, and blinked to focus on the pair of black eyes that were staring back at her from just inches away.

"You know," said a soft baritone voice, "I like you much better when you're sleeping."

Halo squeezed her eyes shut and groaned. "What happened…"

Snape considered her question thoughtfully. Sarcasm won over. He ticked off a list on his fingers. "Let's see… you assaulted your Potions professor, you openly admitted that you hate me and you destroyed my classroom _again…_ but for once you managed to do as you were told."

Was there just a hint of pride in that last part?

Halo's attention fell upon the old pillow in her arms. The fact that she had the dearly loved item in her possession bit into her soul, as he must have had a very good reason for returning it to her. "I haven't seen this since I was little… why are you letting me have it now?"

"Would you have opted for a full-body-bind instead?" he countered, allowing her time to process his sarcastic query. "Come on. We have work to do."

With the go-ahead from Madam Pomfrey and strict instructions to Snape not to let Halo overdo it, the young girl followed him through the abandoned, pre-dawn corridors and into her father's chambers.

"Everything in your old room belongs to you," he began, leading her to the doorway of her small chamber. "You may do with it what you wish, but it all needs to be cleared out if I am to provide a sound training room for you." He hoped his words hadn't sounded overly generous.

But to say the least, Halo was surprised.

"Father…"

"Yes?" Snape tried not to flinch at the word.

"May I ask you a question?"

"I believe you just did."

"I need an explanation."

"That isn't a question."

Halo walked over to her bed and sat down, bringing the pillow she was carrying to rest in her lap. "I don't understand why you first wrote all those things about Sirens and then you want me to break things."

Snape sighed. He knew it was coming. And he wasn't sure he was prepared to answer her.

But he did it anyway. His voice was emotionless.

"The earlier writings I gave you were… a ploy. A distraction, if you will. It was a means of invoking a charge of emotion from you, one that was needed for you to display the abilities you have. Yes, there is the possibility of you developing a Siren's true voice, but the other skill you possess is that which allows you to focus the energy of  your voice to repel objects, and even people."

"But right now, I can only break things…" she concluded.

"That is correct."

"Can I ask another question?"

Snape was silent, waiting.

"Why… why are you being so nice to me?"

Snape swallowed hard. "That… is something I do not wish to discuss with you."

Halo nodded. "Professor Dumbledore is making you be nice to me, isn't he?"

"No."

"Then why? I deserve to know."

Snape turned his back to her. "I will _not_ discuss it with you now."

"Okay, okay, just… tell me what you want me to do."

He whirled to face her again. "Decide what you want to keep in here. Then we're going to the Apothecary in Hogsmeade, as I told you before."

Halo nodded, and he left her to her work. Her eyes roamed through the small room to things she thought she'd never see again. She realized that it was exactly the way she'd left it, down to the splatter of red watercolor on the wall, a mark that had been left as she'd been dragged kicking and screaming from the room nine years ago.

And for the first time in her life, she was truly scared. Of _him_. Not that he'd hurt her… but that he knew something she didn't. Something horrible.

Something about her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The weekend passed without incident, and once again the Potions classroom was fully stocked and ready to resume normal classroom activities. It took the better part of two weeks and a few mild tantrums to remove all unnecessary items from Halo's old room and furnish it with a desk and a sound-proofing charm. It also took the better part of Snape's patience to keep from lashing out at her as he would to any other student.

He knew he owed her much more. But he couldn't bring himself to give her what she truly needed.

Every night, Halo had gone to bed exhausted. Oliver had dropped her several encouraging notes, but had not pressed her for any more of their friendship than she was willing to give.

Luna began to click her beak more and more spitefully every time Valley, Oliver's gray barn owl, had graced the windowsill with a note or a Chocolate Frog for Halo. Through the flurry of his correspondence, Halo had gotten more of a taste of his life than he had of hers. In fact, Luna had only been used twice to send short notes of thanks to her Quidditch-obsessed friend. She promised herself she would talk to him again before the first game of the season.

The signs that Halo had begun to suffer from depression were more and more noticeable, and despite Snape's carefully-masked efforts to assist her, her health had begun to roll slowly downhill.

The day of the Quidditch game dawned all too quickly, one rainy Saturday in late November. Halo sent Luna into the storm with a small roll of waterproof-charmed parchment, on which was written the words: _I'm ready to talk. Come to my room in a hour._

Oliver was knocking at her door in under fifteen minutes, while Halo was still pulling her robes on after a cold wake-up shower. "Hold on a sec," she called, frantically shaking the excess water from her brown-black hair, which she left dripping down her back when she opened the door.

"Hi," Oliver greeted her shyly.

"You're early."

"I know… sorry about that. I was just excited about seeing you again." He let the door close behind him and stepped closer to her. "Is everything all right?"

"Uh… yes, and no." Halo wrung her hands and began pacing the room. The hours that she had spent rehearsing what she wanted to tell him had been for nothing, as she realized she had no idea where to begin.

"Why don't you sit down?" Oliver offered.

"Yes… good idea." She pulled a chair up to the one he had taken a seat in and sat to face him. She tried to settle her hands in her lap, but they shook uncontrollably. It took several moments before she could form a coherent sentence.

"I hope none of this will scare you… what am I saying, it still scares me…"

"Just… tell me," Oliver placed his hand over her shaking ones. He could see the anxiety flickering in her eyes, and he tried to offer her the comfort of his open mind.

"That day in detention… I did something that… well, let's just say any other student would have been expelled not only from this school but from wizarding society as well."

"That bad, huh?" Oliver's brow was wrinkled with worry. "So why were you different?"

"First let me tell you what I did…" Halo gulped, her heart thumping in her ears. "I destroyed Professor Snape's classroom."

This confession made Oliver laugh, but he straightened when he saw the offended and quite betrayed look on his friend's face. "Sorry, I was imagining the look on his face when he saw his classroom in ruins. Go on. How did you do it?"

"I… I have to show you." She stood and pulled her hand out of his grip long enough to retrieve an empty glass jar from her bathroom. She set it on the floor and knelt before it.

"You might want to stand back."

Oliver stood from his chair and backed across the room.

Halo looked to him for a quick moment, to ensure he was prepared, though she doubted he really was. She silently hoped that her skills were adequately tuned for the demonstration, then released a short, high-pitched, almost inaudible sound that caused the jar to shatter instantly.

Halo regained her breath and swayed a bit before glancing around the room to make certain that nothing else had been broken. She was relieved to find that she had been successful.

But disconcerted when she saw the look on her friend's face.

She took her wand from her nightstand and repaired the jar before rising to her feet. "Now you know why I was afraid to tell you."

"You're… um… how exactly did you do that?" Oliver looked more surprised now than afraid, and Halo hoped it meant he would be understanding.

Halo sat down in her chair again, methodically wringing her hands. "I thought about how much I hate my father, and it just happened." She lowered her eyes to the floor.

Oliver stumbled over to his chair and placed his fingers under her chin as encouragement for her to meet his gaze. "Halo, I don't understand… how is it that you can do this? I've never heard of anyone who can do anything remotely like it."

"I'm a Siren, Oliver."

Oliver Wood froze. "You're a… _what?"_

"I'm a…"

"I heard you the first time," he interrupted, rising from his seat. It was his turn to pace the room.

Halo sighed as she struggled to find words of reassurance. "There are such sever misconceptions about Sirens that have been thrown around, I don't even know where to begin. But what you believe me to be is nothing like who I am. All I can do right now is break glass, nothing more."

"So… you don't have the power to seduce me? Or… steal my soul?"

"Is that what you think I would do to the only friend I have?"

"No." The word came quicker than his thinking, but Oliver realized when he said it how true it was. "I don't think you would, it's just a lot to take in."

"Humph… easy for you to say."

"So you didn't tell me why you weren't expelled," Oliver said, hoping the slight change of subject would make them both feel better.

"Because… my father wouldn't allow it."

"And when has an outsider had more influence on the school than Professor Dumbledore?" he said.

"Since he's not an outsider."

"Who is he, then? Is he on the education panel at the Ministry?"

"No, he's a teacher at this school."

"But who…" Once again, his words were too quick for his brain. He shook his head in disbelief.

Halo watched him put two and two together. She nodded to him.

"Professor Snape," they said in quiet unison, both voices confirming.


	9. Desperation

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N – Sorry it's so much shorter than usual, I've had tons to do at work lately but everything should be back to its normal schedule soon. Thanks for reviewing!

PART NINE: DESPERATION 

Halo was surprised.

More than that, even… she was amazed that Oliver hadn't spun on his heel and fled the room. He'd managed to control his desire to interrupt as she explained to him everything she knew.

"But there's something he isn't telling me… and I know it has to be about me. I've stopped asking him, because if I bring it up he refuses to talk to me for a while," she concluded. Her eyes looked on her friend harshly. "Now you must promise you won't breathe a word of this, if my father finds out I told you or anyone else, it could put his life in danger. He's supposed to be hiding me."

Oliver blew out a breath. "So… you can make a guy realize the error of his ways and punish him by making him suffer for his moral injustice?"

"Well… not yet. All my true voice can do at this moment is inflict destruction. But… your summation is correct, nonetheless."

"Wow."

"What?"

"Now I know why you do the things you do."

"Well, that's part of it. You notice I've been more civil toward school property as of late."

"But then why do you look so upset?" Oliver reached for her hand.

"I suppose I'm afraid of your reaction."

"I haven't left," he offered gently. "So… where's your mother in all this?"

Halo opened her mouth to say something, then didn't know how to word it. When the subject of parents had come up in the past, Halo had repelled the topic like a polar magnet. "I… don't have one."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Oliver lowered his eyes to the floor, but continued the pressure of his hand on her tangled fingers.

"Don't be." She sighed. "And I don't really have a father either… Professor Snape only adopted me, if you can call it that. All I know about it is that my father's name is Linnaeus Mandelor. He gave me to Professor Snape when I was a baby because they were old friends and he was being pursued by Death Eaters. I assume they found him and killed him."

"Damn it all Halo, why didn't you tell me any of this before? I could have been there for you. You know I would have been."

Halo was stunned, she had no idea he would be so openly supportive.

"I was afraid. I'm not anymore." Halo knew that wasn't true, but she wanted her friend to know that she trusted him. "Now you have to promise…"

"I promise not to tell anyone what I know." He squeezed her hands on the word 'promise.'

"Thank you." Tears began to well up in her eyes. Despite the sudden comfort, her heart was still wrenched with pain. She didn't realize that it was because, for the first time, she had openly given over to trust.

Oliver looked on her sympathetically, realizing she was about to burst into tears and pulled her into his arms, fully prepared to release her if she pulled away.

He was quite relieved when she didn't.

Instead, she literally fell into his arms and sobbed, fumbling at his shoulders, never having hugged anyone before and not sure what to do, but it was comforting all the same.

"Shhh… it's all right, I'm still here," he soothed, rocking her back and forth and stroking her dark, still-damp hair.

They sat that way for a long time. Halo, who was so adamantly hostile toward anyone attempting to touch her, was now so immersed in the arms that held her that she didn't know how she was going to let go of this simple human comfort. She pressed her face into his chest and inhaled the light, freshly-laundered scent of his Gryffindor sweater.

When she finally pulled away from his contact with some regained composure, he decided to openly voice his amazement at her sudden resolution to allow him this close. "Are you okay with this?" he asked, as he stroked her hands softly.

Halo nodded, sniffling. She closed her eyes briefly as he reached up to wipe a few stray tears from her cheeks.

"I'm still so scared… I feel as though there's something seriously wrong with me. I thought telling you everything would make me feel better, and I do… I do feel better, it's just…" she stumbled to find the words, "… I can't help feeling there's something else..."

The haunted look that her eyes released shot through the depths of his soul. Oliver's heart went out to her.

"I'll be here for you, whatever you find out. Now let's get some breakfast, I'm starving!"

They talked… well, _he_ talked, about the upcoming Quidditch game that evening. About how he felt about Gryffindor's chances, about how much faith he'd put in the team (the team being that Harry Potter) and how the weather might spoil their chances.

The rain hadn't stopped by late afternoon when Halo entered the library for some weekend studying. As usual, the few students who were there cleared off abruptly when they saw her coming.

_It just isn't fair… they'll never see me as anything else. I'm nothing but a monster to them_. She didn't feel like crying, but her stomach was tense with nausea as she flipped through a remedial transfiguration manual, feeling particularly worthless on the subject.

She had to get out.

The last of the students were leaving for the Quidditch game, scurrying out in lines led by teachers carrying rainproof-charmed torches that lit their way to the playing field. In the distance, Halo could make out a cloud of dark forms, those which her father had warned her about on the very first night of the school year.

Dementors.

And they were moving toward the stands.

_How convenient_. Halo pulled the hood of her heavy winter cloak down over her face and set out into the dark night.

Her feet padded over the soaked ground. The shadowy figures had indeed left the vicinity and her path was clear. The path to where, however, was uncertain… she found that she had simple chosen a direction and went that way, not being able to see much through the rain.

Great trees loomed ahead. _The cold must be getting to me_, she thought when she swore she saw a big black dog… Fang, perhaps… bounding out of the woods, headed for the Quidditch grounds.

"Hold on a second… where on earth am I going to end up?" Halo said out loud. "Just look at me! It's pouring rain, I have nothing but what I'm wearing and I'm within running distance of foul creatures who would like nothing more than to suck my soul out through my ears and leave me to rot." Her rant ceased and she cocked her head to one side as she considered the possibility of said scenario being an improvement over the present situation.

She began to count pros and cons on her fingers. She started and ended with the pros of staying outside. "I have no friends, no real family, I'm failing Transfiguration and probably Arithmancy as well, I'm not terribly good at anything except getting into trouble, and to top it off, no one could ever possibly love me in this lifetime." She sighed as her stomach began to cramp violently. So the cold really was getting to her.

Or maybe it was that black-hooded figure standing just meters from where she stood at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.


	10. Protector

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

Simply Being Loved… is More Than Enough -BT PART TEN: PROTECTOR 

Girl and Creature considered one another for a moment.

A very short moment.

Halo braced herself for the very real truth of the situation. Her stomach gave another violent lurch, a sensation that traveled to her extremities.

She was about to die.

Or at least, her life as she knew it was about to end.

_How fitting,_ she thought, quickly pondering the earlier self-depreciating deluge of conclusions as a wave of cold shocked her system. The creature leapt, and she screamed in horror. 

_The_ scream.

And what happened next was even more shocking than discovering that she could do what she was doing. The rain soared away from the source of the sound like a hurricane blowing onto the coast and taking everything in its path with it.

The figure was being suspended where it had leapt into the air, hovering, thrashing in front of her. Halo could sense her consciousness being sucked out of her and replaced with what felt like icy blood.

_"Expecto Patronum!"_ shrilled a terrified voice just as Halo ran out of breath. She fell to the ground facing the great stadium in the distance and saw what appeared to be… fireworks? They were all silvery and showered the field in vaporous sparks.

She noted there were sparks falling around her as well… and, barely conscious, wondering why there was a great silver cat looming over her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I want her expelled!"

"Now wait a minute, her condition is precarious and best dealt with if she stays in this school."

"I've had enough, she's out of control! I no longer want responsibility…"

"She won't be around much longer, assuming your _decision_ still stands. I suggest you make the most of it."

Halo had heard every word of the argument… from the safety of resting behind closed eyelids. She never fully lost consciousness, but the overwhelming despair had sucked every ounce of will out of her. Strong arms had lifted her, carried her somewhere. She wasn't sure where, but she deduced it was the hospital wing. Her eyes cracked open. She had presumed incorrectly. She was in his room…

The fireplace whooshed green flames… someone had just flooed away.

A cool hand tapped against her cheek. "Wake up."

"I'm awake," she mumbled, turning over on the enormous velvet quilt to face… her father. "Why didn't you just leave me there?"

The lost-for-words expression would have been… in any other situation… roughly comical. He opened his mouth to speak, but as no words came out his jaw hung from his face.

She didn't care if this confession would upset him. She rather thought he'd get some pleasure, some sense of release from hearing it. "You heard me correctly. I'm of no use to anyone, even the few who do seem to care would be better off if I weren't around. You yourself have made that clear." She crossed her arms over her chest and stared indignantly into space.

He had to admit… the confession must have been truthful; her unhappy emotions were most definitely in abundance or else the Dementor would not have wasted time sizing her up before moving in to claim her. But then, he realized, something must have tempted the dark creature to desire her; she must have had _some_ hopeful thought, no matter how small.

He sighed. "You'll get your wish before long, Halo."

Halo blinked, setting her gaze from nothingness to rest on him. "What is that supposed to mean? Are _you_ going to do me in?"

Snape raised an eyebrow, in mock surprise. He hadn't hid his reaction to her question well… in an effort to make her think he 'had no idea what she was talking about,' he'd rather obviously telegraphed to her his involvement in her demise. He shifted where he sat on the edge of _his_ bed as a result of his conflicting emotions. _It's so much more difficult to feign your feelings for a person when you have such a flimsy grasp of your true feelings for them,_ he told himself.

And he'd successfully acted the part until now. Well, in this case, he realized, he'd been acting from truth… he really had despised the girl until recently. Now he wasn't sure what to feel. She'd proven to be quite the strong individual, one he would have been proud to have in Slytherin had she not been his daughter.

His daughter. The realization, another of many that he'd stumbled over in such a short time, nearly threw him for a loop. _Aren't fathers supposed to care for their daughters? _he wondered. Not having seen many good parents in action (and no, Lucius Malfoy most certainly did _not_ count), he hadn't a clue how he should at least act toward her.

Acting. Again, so difficult without the sturdy base of actual feelings from which to begin.

Halo was staring rather intently at him. He didn't realize he'd been silent for this long, a silence which broadcast the truth of the situation.

She was half-kidding when she'd said it. Now the blank stare on his face made her lean toward the comprehension that he truly _was_ going to do her in, or at least have some part in it.

"You're… you're going to… bring me to Voldemort, aren't you?"

_Silly girl_. The thought that she would come to that bizarre conclusion hadn't crossed his mind.

"No, of course not." He paused, wondering how she could think him to be _that_ cruel. But then, she knew of his past. He'd been open with her from the beginning in that respect, giving her information that would have nauseated a medieval executioner. He felt it was practical to inform her exactly what kind of man he was, and from there allow her to form her own opinion of the person she called 'Father.'

And she hadn't liked him one bit for it. But then, she hadn't feared him for it, either. Rather, she had come to respect him for his honesty. And if there was one thing the man was good at, besides survival, it was being scathingly honest where it counted most.

"Then what is it?" Halo's breathing had become quick and shallow as her dread mounted.

It was one of those times to be scathingly honest.

He sighed in something of defeat. "You're going to die, Halo. And I haven't decided if I want any part in saving you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Halo's expression turned blank. Her entire bloody emotional consciousness leapt from her like one who had stepped in a bed of hot coals.

"If that is how you feel…" her eyes had glazed over.

He surmised that he had done great damage to the girl's hardened outer shell, the one he had so readily forced her to build. "Perhaps I should explain the situation better."

"Like it matters."

"It does to me."

"Nothing matters to you." same monotonous voice.

That hit him like a rock sinking into the pit of his stomach. She did matter to him, at least, enough to refrain from pondering whether or not he should save her life when the need arose that evening.

"Just… let me explain." He paused. When no interruption prevailed, he continued. "When you were given to me, you were carrying a curse, more specifically one that deals with bonding one individual to another. It happened when I touched you for the first time. I had not been expecting it, and I was… irritated, at having been put in the position of being responsible for a life I had not taken part in creating."

He waited for a comment, a protest, but nothing came. He continued once again.

"The curse had a second part to it… one which, if left incomplete, would render the carrier's life shortened to fourteen years. As I have noticed your diminished health, it is safe to assume that the effect of the curse is finally setting in. Now for the important part… the curse can be completed, but only by the willingness of the responsible individual, meaning myself, to declare the carrier as their own. It cannot be transferred to any other. It would have to be done by me."

He waited. Still nothing from the dazed little girl with the glassy expression.

"I had no intention of declaring you from the moment the curse was initiated. After it would be completed, we would be bonded for life, and with that bond would include a heightened sense of being drawn to one another. In simple terms, it would force us to… love one another. I cannot… _will not_ inflict such emotions on myself, or you for that matter, that we have not built first of our own free will." He sighed briefly. "I don't expect you to understand. I only wish for you to have this knowledge, if nothing else it will assist you in coping with your fate."

Halo visibly gulped. "Are you finished?" she said quietly.

"Yes."

She nodded blankly.

Snape sucked in a much-needed breath. "You'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow… we will discuss how you wish to spend the coming months." He stood up from his perch on the edge of the bed. When she didn't move for several minutes, he gripped her shoulders and lowered her onto the worn linen pillows. Pulling the covers up to her neck, he placed a hand on her nearest shoulder. "Good night."

_Did I just put her to bed? I haven't done that since she was little…_ He extinguished the few candles he'd kept burning and settled in his ancient leather armchair. The darkness of the room heightened his remaining senses. He could still hear her breathing. Whether she was awake or drifting, he knew not. But somehow, a small part of him wished she would sleep, and awaken the next morning with no distress. Was that a hint of caring? He wasn't sure whether or not to let himself hope it was.

He shook his head. _I cannot afford to care… it is too late for change._ The words were still wiring through his brain as he surrendered to the closing of his eyes…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

… and awoke to being lightly shaken.

"Father?"

"Good morning, Halo." He blinked to adjust to the light that was now streaming through the tunnel windows. Apparently she had pulled back the heavy curtains to let the morning light through. He straightened in his chair and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"I… I broke something."

He looked at her quizzically.

"It's in my old room."

He rose from his chair and silently followed her. She pointed to the worktable from the doorway.

Snape stepped cautiously over to the table. Inside a sealed glass jar was a red-flecked, cream-colored… mess.

"The house elves brought fruit for breakfast… I put an apple in the jar, and well… the glass didn't break, but..."

"You did this?"

She nodded.

Snape looked at the jar in amazed wonder. He couldn't have been more proud, but his face was that of shock, much like the one he'd worn when he discovered Potter's snake-charming abilities.

"I… I'll clean it up."

"Wait… this is extraordinary, Halo." Higher praise from Severus Snape had never been given, and if it had, the witness hadn't survived to tell about it. In an instant, he had his wand out and the jar was empty.

"Go get another…" he spoke quietly, and Halo, having some idea what he wanted her to do, fetched the remaining apple from the fruit basket in the main chamber.

Snape dropped the apple into the jar and sealed it. He tentatively stepped back, urging her forward. "Show me."

Halo faced the jar and blew out a nervous breath. She turned apprehensively to look at him, her brow wrinkled with uncertainty.

"Please." His voice was low, nearly kind.

Halo turned back to the jar and began to hum a low, monotonous note. It grew louder, but its pitch stayed the same. Inside the glass, the doomed piece of fruit began to wobble, faster and faster, vibrating the jar across the table, almost to the edge, then… _SPLAT_.

Halo sighed, swaying on her feet. Snape took a step toward her, arms ready if she fell over from exhaustion.

"See? I broke it…" her voice was disappointed.

"The apple… but not the glass."

"It's not what I wanted… I'm not even sure what prompted me to try it." She slumped into a nearby chair and looked unmistakably miserable.

Snape knelt in front of her. "This is much more than I thought you would accomplish before…" he stopped suddenly, not desiring to rub in her fate. "It's a very serious accomplishment. You should be proud of yourself."

She sighed. "It's not much good if I won't be around long enough to use it." Her words were bitter, acid.

Snape uncharacteristically took pity on the girl. He decided that his survival depended on changing the subject.

"Would you like a new book?"

"Are you trying to buy my forgiveness?"

He paused. "Yes," he answered honestly.

Halo considered him for a long moment. Here he was, doing exactly what she'd wanted all the time she'd known him. He was actually asking what _she_ wanted. The results could easily cause disaster. The wheels were turning at full speed in her head. "Any book?"

"Any book." _After all, she won't be around long enough to make much use of a book I wouldn't normally approve._ He mentally kicked himself for that unspoken consideration.

Halo nodded blankly, her face fixed on an unmarked point on the wall.

"Come. We'll go to Diagon Alley. There is much to discuss."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Three new books and a trip to The Leaky Cauldron later, Halo was flipping through one of the texts while she waited outside the Apothecary. The Latin words blurred before her eyes, she really wasn't reading them anyway. All she could think about was the conversation she'd had with her father.

_" I would rather you hated me…" _he had said. _"I cannot complete the curse, not because I do not wish to… but because love is an emotion I know very little about… but if I was to save you, it would have to be entirely my doing. Moreover… I did not want you to be responsible for having feelings for a father who has shown you nothing but mistrust and dislike… and your gift… I've known about it since you were a small child. I knew you would be used against me if you ever fell into the hands of the Death Eaters. No child of a Death Eater, current or former, has ever existed who has not been involved in their… activities. I'd much rather you were dead than condemn you to suffer that fate."_

She really hadn't responded to him, just a few nods of understanding here and there. Not really understanding his motives as much as the language. She leaned against a worn wooden doorway across from the cauldron shop when a superior voice broke through her thoughts and brought her back to the present. "Well, well, well… if it isn't Halo Mandelor, the Reject of Slytherin."

Halo groaned under her breath at the snobbish voice. She didn't look up from her book. "Afternoon, Draco. Daddy break you out of school again?"


	11. Pity

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART ELEVEN: PITY 

The young blond boy was insufferable. Despite her year-ahead status, they were the same age, and Draco let her know on a regular basis that he thought her to be considerably beneath him. Actually, there were quite a few Seventh Year students he viewed as beneath him. "Yes, fortunately he feels I shouldn't have to wait until Hogsmeade weekends to get away." He was admiring his manicured fingernails. "What's your excuse?"

"Wouldn't you like to know." She resisted feeding his disposition with the force of a south-side magnet, for his ego had skipped merrily northward.

"I would, in fact. I'd also like to know whether or not anyone's poked a hole up your arse lately to let some of that sourness out. You're as uptight as that buck-toothed cave dweller Granger."

"I can think of something else that needs holes poked in it. Your over-inflated, superiority-complex-driven ego, perhaps?"

Draco's lips pursed in reaction. "You're just saying that to cover the fact that _you want me."_

Halo cringed. "I am not going to dignify _that_ with a response."

The younger Malfoy licked his lips suggestively.

The look of disgust on her face was clear as glass. "To think that a person would ever come close to touching you with anything less than a cattle prod just sickens me." Her scathing tongue lashed him like a bullwhip. "I am through dealing with you, Draco Malfoy. Get your carcass out of my way."

Malfoy looked quite ready to retrieve his head from the ground at the detrimental whiplash she had hammered him with.

He was quick to recover… sometimes. But she was quicker. "Admit it. You'd give yourself over to me in a second if I ordered you to," he provoked her.

Draco moved closer to her, his inappropriate objective clear. Halo was about to launch another attack on his lesser species when she remembered something she once heard in elementary school: _It takes forty-two muscles to frown, but it only takes four muscles to extend your arm and smack the idiot upside his head_. With a forcefully distinctive and irritated _"Aaargh!"_ she was about to do just that, when Draco Malfoy was launched backward a few feet and landed flat on his back with a thud. Halo hadn't touched him. Nor had she touched her wand.

It took several seconds for either of them to fully register the event.

"Draco! Where are you, ignorant boy? We're leaving!" she heard the elder Malfoy call from a short distance.

The blond boy pushed himself up off the ground, dusting off his school robes. "We'll finish this…" Draco sneered wickedly and darted off through the crowd, presumably to follow his father like a duckling. Gods, that boy was intolerable, but at least he was adherent to his father's command. She wasn't looking forward to their next encounter.

Halo flopped on a bench just outside the Apothecary door thinking to her self, _What did I just do?_ when she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder. She jerked aside, looking up at the owner of the limb that had touched her. It belonged to a tall, black-clad wizard with piercing eyes.

"Well done, Halo."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_"But – I – don't – know – how – I – did – it!"_ She repeated for the umpteenth time, perched on a stool in her soundproof room. Snape had insisted they return to Hogwarts to test her skill after the scene in Diagon Alley. The newly acquired newts' eyes and shredded toadstools had long been forgotten and they sat, congealing, in a shopping bag on Snape's desk.

"Please, just try," he tried to persuade her, sighing deeply to suppress his building frustration.

"I'm tired. I want to go to bed."

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon!"

"I can't help it if I'm tired."

Snape closed his eyes for a second. _Mind your temper, Severus,_ he told himself. "Just one try… then I'll give you whatever you want."

Halo raised an eyebrow at this. "Why is this so important to you?" she queried.

"Because… I have to see if you can reproduce the event… and also control it."

"But why?" If I'll be dead in a few months, why is this so important? You want me to fight the Death Eaters for you, right? I knew it… I knew that was what this was about." She folded her arms across her chest and refused to look at him.

"If that is what you wish to believe, then I won't stop you." He moved to stand directly in front of her, in just the manner he had seen young Malfoy approach her. "Use me if you wish. Gods know you hate me just as much as that infernal boy."

Halo's dark metallic eyes fixed on his form, but she wouldn't look him straight in the eye. "Is that what you think?" She shook her head slowly in disagreement. "I've hated you for quite long enough. I'm through. If anything, I'm sorry for you… sorry that you have no feelings. Even to hate me back would be too much for your selfish mind to handle."

It was the clear haze of distress which had washed over the wizard's face that made Halo realize she'd struck a nerve… and a particularly sensitive one at that.

He swallowed down the growing lump in his throat. He'd single-handedly driven her past hatred of him. He'd been able to keep the other students at that perfect balance of despise for him as a teacher by not allowing them to know him as a person. But the one person, with the exception of his colleagues, who knew more of him than his foul disposition as Potions Master of Hogwarts had admitted to an even lower and more unacceptable emotion.

 Pity.

And it scared him worse than any death threat he could ever receive.

But he had to say something. Anything.

"I won't say I understand how you feel. But know this… I would never, _never_ ask you to face the Death Eaters. Even if you were set to die tomorrow, I wouldn't do it." He lifted her chin to make eye contact and nearly flinched when she didn't pull away. "I would never put you in harm's way."

Halo gulped as he removed his long fingers from beneath her chin. She inhaled deeply. "You never answered my question." Her voice was almost a whisper.

He was still staring directly into her eyes. He realized for the first time that they were much like his own, dark steel-gray compared to his black ones. "I was hoping you could show the world in a short time that Sirens are not to be feared. And what better way to prove a Siren's gift is innocent than with the talent of a brilliant child?"

The man had a talent for being scathing and manipulative one moment and then offering gentle admiration the next. Halo was dumbstruck, and not for the first time. He occasionally surprised her with a kind word, but covered it all with sticky sarcasm later. So she pushed her dwindling hopes deep down, storing them where they couldn't hurt her the next time the admonishments came.

"May I go to bed now?" she asked in a small voice.

He considered her for a moment, and upon noting the dark shadows under her eyes and the drooping of her eyelids, he relented. "Of course."

Halo nodded absently, then did something she never thought she'd do. As he was still standing directly in front of her, she moved forward and slowly, as not to startle him, brought her arms about his waist and rested her cheek against his chest.

Snape wasn't sure what to make of it, but as he didn't want to frighten the child, (_now where had that desire come from?_) he allowed her to embrace him. He just didn't know why she was doing it, and something in him spawned the urge to reciprocate. When his arms came up to hold her, he felt her tense slightly, then relax under his arms.

Neither realized just how long they'd held such close proximity, but Snape was aware of his uninterrupted focus on the girl's deep breathing and slow, regular heartbeat. At least he thought he'd been aware, until her breaths became irregular, even shaky. One of his hands, completely on its own, began to move in small circles between her shoulder blades. It wasn't until her heard a muted sniffle that his delayed astuteness comprehended that she was crying. He pulled her closer to him, though he didn't have the first clue why instinct had told him to do that.

At his firmer grasp, she pulled away from him, his arms coming open immediately to release her. She fled the room, one hand covering her mouth to stifle the sobs which threatened to shake the dungeon walls.

Snape was at a loss for words, and at even more of a loss for action. He contented himself to fix his gaze on the stack of books he'd bought her, lying on her desk, quite forgotten at her hasty departure. He certainly hadn't encouraged her to seek human comfort. Quite the opposite, actually. So after standing for a while contemplating her troubled departure, he moved on to contemplate the source of her display of affection. And was it truly affection, or just relief of tension? He had no idea whatsoever. The man was completely clueless as to the true nature of hormonal tendencies of teenage girls.

But he had an idea who might understand.

He retrieved a piece of parchment and hastily wrote a note, calling to his owl. It was time to consult the enemy.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Twenty minutes later, Oliver Wood entered the Potions classroom as requested.

"You wanted to see me, Sir." The young man was clearly apprehensive, but not fearful as he guessed the topic of discussion was Halo. He had decided to be as forthcoming as possible. He didn't want the father of the girl he was just beginning to understand to get the wrong idea, even though any idea he thought Professor Snape to have would be unjustified.

He was in for a surprise.

"Yes, Mr. Wood. As I'm sure you are aware, I know of your relationship with… a student in my House." He mentally cursed himself for nearly calling her his daughter.

"That's right, sir." _Hide nothing,_ he thought, _except the knowledge that he's Halo's father._

"And… just how _intimate_… is your relationship with this person?" Snape leisurely advanced on the boy like a storm rolling into a calm harbor.

"She's my friend, Sir. Nothing more, at the moment."

"Is that so?" A black eyebrow raised and black-sleeved arms were folded as though waiting for an explanation.

"Yes, Sir. It's important to me that she not do anything she isn't ready for… she's been quite difficult to get to know." His hands had begun to sweat. _Where is this going?_

"She certainly is." Snape held Oliver's gaze for a long moment before continuing the conversation. "As it is my duty to protect those in my House, it is also my duty to inform you that Halo's father is a very powerful man. If you are responsible for anything happening to her, I dare say he might kill you."

Oliver shuddered at the cool malice in his teacher's eyes. "I… I understand, Sir."

"Good. I hear she gets on better with you than any other student in this school… and with that in mind, I suppose I can trust you to look after her from time to time, assuming there will be no shower-drowning incidents like the one in which you involved yourself just last night."

"That was unintentional… sufficed to say, I was disappointed by the outcome of the game."

"Yes, well it _won't_ happen again, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Very well. You will report to me directly if you discover anything about the girl that her father or myself should know about. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

Snape nodded. "You may go now. "

"Thank you, Sir." Oliver turned on his heel and marched out of the classroom. There was no doubt where he was headed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I can't believe he put you in that position!" Halo shrilled. "To think that he expects you to inform him about my powers… that's assuming he thinks I'd tell you about them in the first place. And he doesn't even know that you know he's my father. So in effect, He's keeping the agreement he made with you from me, I'll _supposedly_ be keeping everything from you and you'll be keeping any mention of what I've told you from him. Oh, this is just great. This is just bloody terrific."

He'd found her crying in her bed, and since then she'd gone from terribly upset to bitterly amazed to being frustrated and enraged. And she still hadn't told him what had upset her in the first place. Like she really knew why, though her world was falling apart all around her.

"I'm going to die, Oliver."

"No you're not, it's just a bloody messed-up situation, that's all." He took her hand in his and gave it a friendly squeeze.

"No, I'm serious. I'm going to die. Before the end of the summer."

He stared at her for a long while. "Don't joke like that."

"I apologize if _my life_ isn't going according to _your plans."_

The unbelieving stare continued, then Oliver brought his hand to his mouth to smother a terrified gasp. "Please… tell me you aren't serious." Barely a strained whisper.

Halo sniffled. "I would never lie to you…"

He turned pale. Not just a no-sun-exposure-pale, but absolutely white. "Oh Gods…" his voice broke. He fought back tears, fought back fainting. It was several minutes of heart-wrenching, suppressed sobs that sounded like asthmatic heaves before he forced himself to remain calm enough to ask for an explanation.

She gave him one. "Because he doesn't love me."

Oliver's stomach turned to ice and wrenched painfully. He held her hand in an excruciating grip, his voice shaking with dread. "Now you're joking. Why are you doing this?"

"It's true." Halo sighed. "When my real father gave me to him, he put some curse on me that would transfer to him… some kind of bonding spell. When he touched me, he was irrevocably responsible for me, whether her wanted to be or not. The spell must be completed by the responsible party… else I will die. The incomplete bond will sever my life at the end of a fourteen-year period following the spell's activation. And the worst part is… he has to love me, at least a little bit, in order for the closure spell to work."

"Bloody Hell! That effing bastard!" Oliver burst out, leaping up from his seat on the edge of her bed, his breathing harsh and furious. He forced himself to calm considerably when he saw the unreserved distress erupting upon Halo's features.

"I'm sorry, Halo… I can't take this right now…" And then he was gone, but his words hung over the room like a dark cloud.

_It figures… everything I touch gets ruined_. The weight of the situation pulled at her, and her bed was the most inviting sight in the world. She clutched the worn out pillow to her chest and curled up on her side. Mental imagery suggested a picture of a mentally unstable and depressed person in solitary confinement… and with the absence of mental instability, the picture was pretty accurate.

It's better this way… he won't be around to be upset when I die… it's just better this way… 

The words played on her lips as she drifted off to a despair-induced sleep.

And from under her bed, a middle-aged rat scurried to a small hole in the wall and disappeared.


	12. Spy

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N: Again, sorry for the short chapter. I have big ideas for the next one, so this is just a transition of sorts.

PART TWELVE: SPY 

Existence was tolerable. If any attempt at living was made, however, Halo reckoned she'd die then and there. Like it mattered. She'd be dead by summer anyway.

Oliver had made no attempt to recover their friendship. He avoided her to no end. A couple of times they caught each other's gaze, and for a fleeting moment it appeared he was about to say something to her, but then he'd look away and walk on. When Snape held him behind while the students gathered their belongings at the end of class one day, the boy was so visibly panicky that she thought he might be sick.

Her marks suffered over the following weeks, particularly in Transfiguration and Arithmancy. Professor McGonagall was met with snide remarks when she approached the girl about her studies, and would have given detention and removed countless House points from Slytherin had she not known the circumstances. The Headmaster had informed his Deputy Headmistress of the Potions Master's decision, and urged her not to make the House suffer for Halo's indifference. It was also suggested that she be civil to her verbally-abusive colleague, but there was no way in this lifetime Minerva McGonagall would be anywhere close to well-mannered to the overgrown bat who was destroying one of the most promising students she'd seen in many years.

Halo was vaguely aware that she was being treated more leniently, and she ran with it. Random acts of retaliation were turning up all over the castle, and Filch was on the warpath. One particular morning it was the broken remains of what had been the gargoyle outside the Headmaster's office.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

"Halo!" came the enraged voice. "Open the door this instant!"

Halo flicked her wand at the door to her room without looking away from the ceiling. Snape barged in and slammed the door behind him with a loud _bang_.

"If this is about the gargoyle, you're wasting your time. I admit it, I did it. But I'm not fixing it so you can just bite me." Halo's face was completely blank, her stare fixed somewhere on the ceiling.

Snape, whose mouth had opened to castigate her to no end for not showing up for her Siren lessons, for failing two of her classes and for being a general pain in everyone's arse, snapped his jaw shut. He considered her for a moment in disbelief. 

"That was you?"

Halo shrugged against the pillows she was resting on. "I suppose had I not said anything, you never would have been the wiser." She sighed. When neither of them had spoken for several moments, she spoke again. "Oliver told me what you wanted him to do."

"I know."

At this declaration, Halo turned to look at him, breaking from her apathetic haze. "How?"

"He informed me that you had divulged some information to him, and that he'd told you about what I asked him to do. I held him after class, as you may have noticed, and he told me that he knew everything. I almost gave the boy Veritaserum to be sure he was telling me the truth." Snape came to rest on the edge of her bed.

"Then I almost _Obliviated_ him… but he gave me his word that he wouldn't say anything."

"He won't say anything."

"Then why are you in here sulking like you've lost your best friend?" he asked in his trademark scathing tone.

Halo looked him in bare astonishment. "Because I have. And it's because of you."

Snape was silent for a long moment. "What do you want me to do…"

"Nothing."

"I'll get you whatever you want…"

"You can't buy my happiness."

"Anything, Halo."

"Stop trying to help the situation! You'll only make it worse! You want to do something for me? Give me back my life!" She flipped over onto her stomach and buried her face angrily into the pillows.

Snape went to lay a hand on her shoulder, but she jerked away from him.

"I'm trying, Halo. I truly am." With those words in the open, he retreated from her room, closing the door with a soft 'click.'

"I want to go home…" Halo's muffled voice cried into the pillows as she longed for the only people who still, she hoped, appreciated her.

Snape was in a truly bewildered and foul mood as he returned to the dungeons. "What has gotten into me?" he chided himself aloud. "That girl inflicts havoc on this school at every turn, and there I was, comforting her! Just look at what a soft old lady I've become! No… I can't get close to her. I won't. I won't!"

There was an audible tap at the window. A very familiar, darkly regal owl let itself in through the portal and dropped a scroll in the Potions Master's hands.

_Severus,_

_How is the search progressing for that renegade Sirius Black? My son informs me that you've been keeping something locked away from us. I would like to formally invite you and your daughter, Halo, to a holiday feast at the manor on Friday, December the twenty-fourth. The usual crowd will be present. As you are welcome to assume, there is much to discuss._

_-Lucius_

**_Gods._** The silver-haired man had been trying for as long as either of them could remember to scare his fellow Death Eater. The trembling that had commenced on Snape's long fingers indicated that he may have just succeeded. Now how in Hades had he found out about Halo?


	13. Howler

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N: The lyrics to the "Santa is a Fat Bxtch" song belong to ICP. No copyright infringement intended.

Another A/N: Muggle electronics don't work at Hogwarts!

Yet another A/N: If obscene language makes you blush, get over it and read this chapter anyway.

And yet another A/N: I stayed up all night finishing this, so if it's a bit loopy, blame it on lack of sleep.

Torny: Thanks for reviewing! It's nice to be appreciated. Yes, I've tried to break from the usual tradition of Snape fics and use a different approach, and I hope it can compare to some of the better Snape fics out there.

PART THIRTEEN: HOWLER 

Halo was packing.

"I don't care what he says. He can scream at me for all I care. I'm going. I'm not wanted here anymore. He can't stop me."

The hostile monologue went on for an hour as she padded around the room, gathering her belongings for the winter break and stashing the miniaturized items in her travel bag. So lost in her hostility, she jumped a mile and emitted a squeak that sent a glass inkwell crashing to the floor when a knock sounded at her bedroom door.

And instead of an announcement from the intruder, it barged in and revealed itself to be Severus Snape.

"Did I invite you in?" Halo had her hands on her hips. She looked tired, and had dark circles under her usually sparky metallic eyes, Snape noticed.

"Where do you think you're going?" he demanded.

"Home. To be with the only people who might still care about me."

It stung like acid on torn skin. "There's a… situation," Snape informed her. "You're staying here."

"I _don't_ think so." She resumed her packing.

"You're _staying_."

Halo whirled to face him. She was so close, he could see just how exhausted she was. "I'm _going_. You can go piss yourself if you don't like it."

It was pure, devastating whiplash. Despite not being his biological daughter, she had clearly inherited his razor-sharp tongue.

"I beg your pardon?"

She was still staring defiantly up at him in reply. Her gallantry to stand up to him was not betrayed by her small size. Even so, she still needed to be reminded of her place.

"You will not speak to me in that tone. Furthermore, you are a minor child and I have decided that you are staying here." He thrust a piece of parchment in her hand. "Madam Pomfrey has asked for you to brew a number potions for her. I suggest you get started."

Halo opened her mouth to scream at him, which would undeniably lead to disaster. Snape was quick to cover her mouth with his hand and Halo stopped short.

"We will have none of that, thank you." He removed his hand only when he was certain she wouldn't bring the castle down on them.

"Why are you doing this?" she demanded in an almost hysterical pitch. "Isn't it enough that you're going to let me die, and now you have to keep me from the only people who may still care for me?"

Snape sighed. It was obvious that she believed no one at Hogwarts cared for her, and that going back to the DeMornays, even for a short while, would give her a sense of belonging. And if it weren't for Lucius Malfoy, he'd gladly let her spend the rest of her days with them. He might as well tell her the truth, and spare himself the headache of cleaning up after her eventual rampage.

"Lucius Malfoy knows about you, Halo. He knows about _us_."

Halo sucked in a breath. "How?"

"Young Mr. Malfoy apparently found out and told him." He looked like he was waiting for her to explain herself.

"I didn't tell him… and neither did Olli. He wouldn't do that."

"I know. I had a discussion with the young man myself."

"Who, Draco?"

"No, Mr. Wood."

"Oh." Halo looked distant for a moment, and quite hurt. "What did he tell you?"

Snape read into her tired features, and decided to be as sensitive as possible on the subject. "He promised me that he had not said a word to anyone about it… and then he asked how you were."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him to ask you himself. He… said he might."

Halo was silent for a moment, then nodded in acceptance. "That can't be the only reason you want me to stay."

"Clever girl… actually, Lucius extended an invitation to a social gathering on the evening of the twenty-fourth. I've already accepted on your behalf."

"You _what_? Why?"

"Because if I hadn't, he would have suspected I was hiding you from him and would cast me out of his circle without a second thought, or worse. And if Voldemort ever returns, that circle is where I need to be, in order to help our side."

Halo couldn't help it, she began to cry without warning. "I don't want any part of it… I don't want to get involved…" she kept repeating. Snape had her by the shoulders and was leading her to her bed as she collapsed in hysterics.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Halo found herself, much against her will, in the Potions classroom on Monday morning with instructions and components for an array of liquid compounds needed in the Hospital Wing before the students arrived after the holiday. Halo kept reminding herself that if it weren't for how kind Madam Pomfrey had always been to her, there was no way she'd be doing what her father had asked.

He'd been gone from the school grounds since putting her to bed with a dreamless sleep concoction he'd been carrying among the vials in his robe pockets. Halo wondered where he'd gone, but she had an idea. It must have something to do with whoever told Draco about her.

She'd written to the DeMornays, explaining that she been given several last-minute assignments that required more attention than she could give them at home, and they'd sent her Christmas gifts by return owl. Or owls, actually, as it took three to deliver several large packages, only one which she'd been allowed to open immediately.

It was a Howler.

But wait, don't cover your ears yet.

This Howler, instead of containing some vulgar message with the intent to shred itself after breaking the recipient's eardrums, substituted a message for music, and text for a playlist.

"Just like the discs I have back home," she reminisced, It appeared the DeMornays had charmed the Howler with every song they'd found in Halo's collection. Every song. Including…

Halo couldn't believe it. Despite what a crummy final winter holiday she must endure, at least she could spend it in the comfort of familiar tunes. She took the Howler with her to the Potions lab. She doubted it could be loud enough to break anything.

Snape had just reported to Dumbledore, and had no luck in finding out who had leaked such information to the Death Eater's son. Dumbledore found it curious that the students were still oblivious upon their departure two days before. It appeared Draco wasn't telling.

He strode through the corridors and down flights of stairs to the dungeons. As he drew nearer to his classroom, he heard some muffled, hellish noise scratching its way through the stone walls. It got louder as he got closer to the door to his lab. Ever the paranoid Death Eater, he cracked the door and peered inside.

The waves of sound and vulgar lyrics nearly blew him off his feet.

_…Santa Claus suck my bxlls_

_drunk as hell__ringing bells at the malls_

_Dancer Prancer Nixon and Cupid ___

I'm a get stupid, ha ha ha… 

It was nearly enough to make Severus Snape blush. "_Halo!_" he bellowed, bursting through the door, which crashed against the stone wall, but not loud enough to be heard over the ruckus coming from the singing red envelope hovering somewhere above the worktable where Halo was sitting backward on a chair and chewing on what looked like a green worm. She was also belting out the lyrics, but like the door could not be heard over the music's excessive volume.

Snape strode to face her, opposite the table and slammed his hands onto the wood surface. Halo looked up, not interrupted in the least, and pulled a string that was dangling from the suspended Howler. The music continued to play, but at a much more tolerable level in Snape's biased opinion.

"What on Earth are you doing?" he demanded.

Halo looked perplexed. "I'm doing what you told me to, or is that too astonishing for you to comprehend?" she shot back.

"You're making a mess!" he indicated to the three cauldrons going at once, with liquid splashing over the sides as they bubbled. "Are you certain you've brewed them correctly?"

"Of course I am! I may be dying, but it doesn't make me stupid."

Severus took in a slow, deep breath and blew it out with the same deliberate effort. _I'm going to let that slide…_ he chided himself. "And what in Merlin's name are you eating?"

"Lime worms, from the Headmaster. Want one?" She grabbed one from the bag labeled "Honeydukes" and held it out to him.

"Er… no."

Halo shrugged, tossing one green, wormy end into her mouth and chewed away.

"And the Howler?"

Halo chewed and swallowed and then explained the dangling envelope as it belted out more crude lyrics.

_…for the neighborhood__Christmas and everything's whack_

_not a creature stirring but a fxckin rat…___

"And what possessed you to listen to such an… _inappropriate_ selection?" he fought to keep from snatching the bobbing red parchment from the air and tearing it to pieces, but he knew Halo's reaction would likely destroy the castle as her abilities were growing exponentially stronger.

"It seemed to fit my mood."

"I see… defacing a sacred holiday through offensive noise was what you were in the mood for," he analyzed.

Halo nodded brazenly, one eyebrow raised.

Snape stared her down for a long moment. He knew he wasn't going to win this one. "Carry on," he muttered, turning toward his desk, whirling around again as a thought passed over him. "But do keep the volume down, this is after all _my_ classroom."

Halo went back to her work. Snape made no protest, but was aware over the following hours that the songs went from obnoxious and loud to slower, more calm, even sad. _If what she'd said earlier about the music fitting her mood, she must be worn out by now_, he surmised.

The song ended. Snape realized he'd been lost in thought, his quill poised over an unrolled stack of student papers and looked up to see Halo standing in front of him with a tray of vials in her hands.

"I'm finished."

By the Gods, she did look exhausted. Her eyelids were drooping, dark circles surrounded her eyes and she was deathly pale. Without closer examination he could see that she was trembling with the sheer effort of holding up the vial-laden tray.

He swept around the desk to take the tray from her, setting it quickly on the wood surface and leading her to a chair. Still not comfortable being touched, she started to pull away from him, but didn't have the strength. "I'm fine," she lied.

"You need to rest." he went to a drawer in his desk and pulled out a vial of Pepper-Up, which he emptied into her mouth with no attempt at objection on her part. He stood before her until she had ceased shaking and looked a little brighter. "Stay here until I'm finished, then I'll escort you back to your room." He went back to his desk, looking up often from his grading. She hadn't moved, and was staring into space. Her voice broke the silence just as he was putting a final red mark on the last parchment.

"I'll go with you."

Snape looked over at her. He didn't try to pretend that he didn't know what she was talking about.

"I won't let any of them hurt you," he promised.


	14. Deception

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART FOURTEEN: DECEPTION 

"But only to prevent them from discovering that you're a spy. I won't get involved in any of your dirty work," Halo warned him.

"I don't expect you to."

"What do you expect, then?"

Snape looked at her, considering. Several seconds passed before he formulated a reply. "I expect only the most brilliant of acting skills that you can offer."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"There's more to acting than you can possibly imagine."

She folded her arms across her chest, leaning back in her chair. The Pepper-Up potion had not worked more than a few wonders for her state of wakefulness, nor had it done much for her tired appearance. "Enlighten me," she challenged him.

Snape came around his desk and pulled up a chair to sit before her. His robes spilled to the floor around him. Folding his hands with index fingers steepled, he began.

"In short, you must be able to make Lucius Malfoy, among others, believe that you are truly a Death Eater's daughter, trained to believe the same things about Mudbloods that they do. And if they hear you refer to the non-magic populace as _Muggle-born_…"

"I get the idea," she interrupted.

"I'm relieved that you understand the frailty of the situation, but may I be permitted to continue uninterrupted?"

Halo held up her hands. "By all means."

"Now, this is how the evening should play out: We will arrive by carriage at the Malfoy's estate. When we are greeted at the door, it is imperative that you do not act in hostility to anyone who touches you. I understand your feelings on the matter, and it was unfortunate that I felt the need to prevent you from seeking physical attention when you were young. My reasons at that time are irrelevant to this situation, so I ask that you do not press the issue until a later time. You may find that some of the people you will meet on Friday may be tempted to escort you downstairs… you must not let this happen. I may need to speak with Malfoy alone, at which point I will assign an appropriate escort to you."

Halo opened her mouth to speak, but it turned into a gargantuan yawn.

Snape sighed. "We will discuss this further tomorrow. You need to rest." he rose from his chair and hauled her to her feet. He was silent as he escorted her back to her room, pausing briefly to give her shoulder a squeeze before leaving her to sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday came and went as quickly as the House Elves who made the beds. Halo looked more and more tired after each session; remnants of her exhaustion were still evident on Friday morning when she reported to Snape's private chamber.

"You don't look well," he observed when she walked in, buttoning his white linen shirt after an early morning shower.

It occurred to Halo that she'd never seen him without a shirt on; this was the closest she'd been to walking in on him with some part of his body unusually exposed. The fleeting thought passed when he retrieved a dark chocolate satin gown from among the sea of black clothing in his armoire.

"This is what you'll be wearing to the gathering."

She looked upon the garment with a contorted expression of horror. She vaguely recalled being forced to wear a dress on her first day of primary school… and the disastrous consequences of that event.  Shuddering, she kicked herself back into the present. "I'm not wearing that," she declared.

Snape shot her The Look. "Yes you are."

Halo opened her mouth to protest further (she was doing that a lot), but decided to close her eyes and count to ten instead. In the end, she decided it wasn't worth the energy of arguing, not if she was expected to stay awake tonight. "Fine," was all she said.

Snape looked somewhat shocked, but brushed it off. He made tea and launched into another lecture about what she could expect at the impending 'party,' and even had her act situations out with him. It was lunchtime before he finally relented to send her to her room with her gown, a bottle of 4-hour dreamless sleep potion and instructions to be ready to leave at six o'clock that evening, explaining that he'd send a House Elf to assist her when she woke up. With a look of deep gratitude and a hint of understanding, he sent her on her way.

The dreamless sleep was just that, and it lasted until exactly four o'clock. Halo took her time in the shower, repeating to herself that everything would turn out all right, that no one would be hurt and she'd be safe and warm in her bed before the next morning. She only hoped it was true.

The House Elf showed up just as she was assembling herself into her gown, which to her surprise didn't look that bad at all. It was moderately form-fitting, with long sleeves and a flowing skirt that fell smoothly to the floor like a drooping daisy. She sent the House Elf away, explaining that she was thirteen years old and could dress herself, thank you very much.

Luna had shoved her way into the room through the window and shook a flurry of snow onto the bed where she landed. "Luna! You're making a mess!" She muttered indignantly to the owl. Luna shivered slightly from the cold, dropping a roll of parchment onto the bed.

Halo sighed. "I'm sorry, girl. I'm sure you had to brave the weather to deliver this, She lifted the chilled bird and set her on her perch by the fireplace, tossing a few owl treats into a dish. _She really is a beautiful animal,_ Halo thought as she stood back for a long moment, watching her familiar dry herself. She'd never taken the time to really look at the bird before. Unlike the average flat-faced ball of feathers, the Sentinel owl looked slightly more like a hawk than an owl, with a sharp, curving beak and a lean, defined appearance. A little like a Phoenix, even. Sharp, silver eyes and cerulean feathers tipped with white gave the owl a regal appearance.

~~~FLASHBACK~~~

Snape looked down at four-year-old Halo with an appraising eye. She was busy shredding shrivelfigs over a pint-sized cauldron, a task she was quite familiar with as she'd been brewing for almost a year now. He was aware that she knew he was there, but did not disturb her until she'd put the cutting instrument down and rose to wash her hands. The silvery owl perched on his arm remained silent.

He prepared himself for the imminent discussion of her future. With Dumbledore's help he had found a suitable home for her, far away from him. He knew it was the best thing for her, and for him as well. He hated himself for being her father.

Halo returned to the table and looked up at him for approval. "Is that a hawk, Father?" she asked, indicating to the bird.

"No, Halo. She's your new owl." With that, the bird swooped down to the table before Halo, tucked its wings and stared up at her new owner determinedly.

"That… thing is an owl?"

The bird chittered disapprovingly.

"Be mindful what you say, she is quite temperamental. Most Sentinels are."

"A Sentinel?"

"A protector owl, cross-bred Gyrfalcon, Snowy owl and Phoenix. Her sole purpose in life is to value your safety above all else. You must treat her with she respect she deserves."

Halo considered the little bird. "She's awfully small," she judged.

"She's still young. She'll grow as you do." he crossed his arms over the front of his robes. "You must greet her with a chosen name for her to understand that she's yours."

Halo continued to consider the hybrid creature for several minutes before speaking again. "Hello, Luna," she greeted the bird, extending her arm.

The bird looked at her cautiously.

"I'm sorry for calling you a thing."

The owl clucked her beak forgivingly and leapt with the grace of a cat onto the girl's arm. A wave of color washed over the bird from the tip of her beak to her long tail feathers, a stunning flash of several shades of blue scattered with silver points. It was quite a sight.

"Thank you, Father."

"You're welcome, now we need to talk."

~~~END FLASHBACK~~~

The nearly-grown Sentinel was truly an image of nobility, Halo observed, pulling herself into the present once again. Not an owl for the weak-minded, and definitely not one to companion someone of lesser status. Halo's lack of knowledge then had been replaced with the awareness that Sentinels were quite rare, and therefore equal in cost. Over the years she'd sometimes forgotten how valuable the bird was, much more as a companion than a possession.

The image reminded her that her familiar would expire when she did. It was a comforting feeling in the way that she would not have to face life after death alone, but it saddened her that the world would be devoid of this beautiful creature, all because she had life-bonded with it the moment it landed on her arm nine years ago.

Halo crossed the room again and stroked Luna's satiny feathers. Luna responded, lovingly rubbing her closed beak against Halo's hand, as if to say, "You remember we're a team now, do you?"

Halo afforded herself a smile as she went back to her task of preparing to face the Malfoys. It was nearly six o'clock when she wrapped the matching dress cloak around her shoulders, donned her gloves and exited her bedroom.

Snape was at the bottom of the steps leading up to the entrance hall when she rounded the corner. His face transiently betrayed his emotions, those of recognition and awe.

He had donned his best winter robes, those of rich, midnight blue velvet. He'd even had the sense to even the ends of his hair and comb it neatly, Halo noticed as she approached him.

She mistook his semi-gaping stare for disapproval. "I don't look that bad, do I?" she began smoothing the folds of her dress when Snape took one of her gloved hands and brought it to his lips.

"If what I'm about to say ever reaches the student population, my career will be over." He took a deep breath. "I've never seen you look more beautiful."

_All right, where's my Father and what have you done with him?_ "Thank you," she said warily.

"I know that look, and no, I haven't been possessed, I assure you." He looked her up and down. "Something is missing, however."

"What did I forget?"

Snape reached into a deep pocket and retrieved a small, white satin bag. The content revealed itself in the form of a platinum cord necklace. Dangling from the center was a single, unique snowflake studded with petite diamonds. It was exquisite, contrasting the warm tone of her gown beautifully.

"This is for all the things I haven't done for you in the past. I still find it amazing that you would do this for me," he explained as he fastened the necklace underneath her carefully plaited hair. When he was finished he turned to face her again.

"Is there anything you're not clear on, anything you wish to ask before we depart?" he searched her face for apprehension.

"I don't think so. You've been quite thorough."

Snape nodded. "Here."

"What's this?" she took a black handkerchief he was holding out for her.

"It's laced with Pepper-Up. All you have to do is inhale."

She nodded. "Thank you."

He brought the hood of her cloak to rest over her hair, held out his arm, she cautiously took it and allowed him to lead her up the stairs.

"Good luck, you two," a voice sounded from behind them.

They turned to the source of the voice and saw the Headmaster looking upon them approvingly, flanked by a worried Professor McGonagall.

Snape nodded to the old man, glanced toward his colleague and steered Halo out the door.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was dark and snowing lightly by the time they reached Malfoy Manor. Snape took her hand and helped her out of the carriage. He prayed she wouldn't stumble over her dress, but knew better than to voice this concern. The girl had much more important things to worry about.

A terrified-looking House Elf greeted them at the door and took their coats while another escorted them to the doorway of an indoor courtyard. It cleared its throat and announced their arrival.

"Conte Severus Snape and his daughter, Contessa Halo."

As they stepped into the room, the objects of several scrutinizing glances, Snape felt Halo squeeze his arm firmly. He knew he'd have some explaining to do later about their introduction.

"Ah, Severus, you've arrived!" Lucius Malfoy swept toward them with his severe-looking wife. "You remember Narcissa."

"A pleasure, Madam." Snape's voice could not have been more detached as he bowed slightly in much-practiced respect.

The woman inclined her head slightly in greeting and excused herself. Lucius had his wife well-trained, she stayed out of his business for fear of him.

"And this must be Halo," Lucius' voice lowered to that of a man who had just found a wealth of Galleons: easily spendable.

Halo offered her hand to the loathsome, silver-haired man. "A pleasure to finally meet you, sir." The words were well rehearsed and snuck by easily.

"Likewise, my dear," Lucius purred as he took her hand and placed a kiss on it. "As I was telling your father just recently, we have great plans for you."

Halo nodded in acceptance, skillfully hiding her fear.

Lucius waved to his right, and Draco strolled over. "I'm sure my son will be more than happy to entertain the young lady while we catch up on some long-neglected business." he told Snape. "Come, my friend. There is much to discuss."

Snape met Halo's eye with a mutual glance of support before following Lucius up a sweeping staircase and out of sight.

"So, _Contessa, _you're not going to tell me why you're here, are you?" Draco sneered.

"I am here at the request of your father, not by my own choice," Halo equaled his glare, and then surpassed it.

"They've got _plans_ for you, you know."

"So I've been told."

"Any idea what they might be?"

"Oh, I have many ideas."

Draco leaned in closer to her. "I'm going to dispense with the typical remark and get straight to the point. In a moment, I'm going to offer you my arm. I want you to refrain from making a scene, I'm only going to take you to an adjacent room so we can talk."

Halo sized him up. From the training she'd been receiving since their last encounter, she had no doubt she could shatter the blond boy's entire skeleton in one blast. She nodded at his proposal.

As promised, he offered his arm, and when she took it he steered her through the crowd and into an empty antechamber. He closed the door behind him and turned to her.

"This is my father's study. No one will be able to hear us in here."

"And why is this discussion warranted, Draco? I don't even like you."

"You don't have to like me, but I do ask that you listen. There's much we need to discuss." He indicated for her to take a seat, and he sat opposite her. "Before I start… I just wanted to tell you that I think you look beautiful tonight."

Halo looked upon him as though he were a bug, one that needed to be squashed quickly. "Do you have any control over how creepy you can get?"

Draco gave her an unwavering grin. "Unfortunately, no."

He was almost handsome when he didn't force himself to look so superior and menacing, Halo noticed. She forced herself to stay alert. There was no way she would allow herself to relax in the younger Malfoy's presence.

"So did you bring me here just to tell me that, or was there something else?" she pointed out when he hadn't yet wiped that silly grin off his sharp face.

Draco shook himself out of his momentary fixation and resumed a serious expression. "So you're Snape's daughter… how on Earth did that happen?"

"I assume you know the basics of human reproduction?"

"You know what I meant."

"Did I?"

"He was never married, my father told me that much."

"Then your father was uninformed. As was everyone else." Halo armed herself with pre-arranged cover story, complete with verification as public wizarding records had been altered to reflect the information she and her father had formulated.

"So he was married? To who?"

"Contessa Peri Mandelor." Halo offered with a self-satisfied smile.

Draco turned white when it hit him: there was actually another student whose mother had held higher station than both his parents combined. It took a moment for him to recover.

"Oh I'm sorry, you weren't expecting that, were you?" Halo feigned surprise.

Draco had to admit, the girl had a reputation for cunning. It was well earned. He felt safe revealing his motive.

"I am going to tell you something, and I need you to at least consider that what I'm about to tell you is the truth, and you can verify it later." He blew out a breath. "I know what my father's plans are for you… he has this notion that the Dark Lord will be returning this year, and he wants us to take the Mark together when he returns.

Halo raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "That's all?"

"I'm not finished."

Halo shot up from her chair. "Well I am."

"Halo, this is important!" He moved to cut her off at the door.

"I strongly suggest you move, Draco."

The boy gulped, but did not move. "Not until you hear what I have to say."

He did not appear at all intimidating, malicious or condescending at that moment, but just plain determined. _It might be worth hearing after all,_ she thought after a moment. She folded her arms. "Continue."

He stood fast in front of the door. "I don't want to take the Mark. Ever. I don't know whether or not you do, but I want control over my life. I've already spoken to Dumbledore, and told him everything, short of anything that will get my father a prison sentence. He promised to protect me. I implore you to do the same."

Halo was so shocked, she could have blown her cover and not cared in the slightest. It took a long, searching stare into Draco's icy blue eyes before she found her voice.

"When did this happen?"

"Shortly after I ran into you in London, actually… by the way, I've been meaning to ask you about that."

_Whoa. Draco's going to go against his father, one of the most influential and feared wizards in Britain? What alternate universe have I stepped into?_ Halo thought.

"I want to know how I ended up on the ground," he continued, "because I know you didn't push me, even though you probably should have, I was being an arse…" he rambled, "… but in any case, did you feel anything? Were you pushed too?"

"Uh… yes, I was," she dissembled. "I think someone was wearing an invisibility cloak or something."

Draco nodded. "I figured that was it." His face returned to its original concern. "I know we've had our differences in the past. But this is important. All our fathers want is to control us, and then turn us over to Voldemort, if he ever comes back. Do you understand?"

"Oh, I understand all right. You want me to believe you so I'll end up making an arse of myself and put my father in danger. Stop me if I misread any of this rubbish."

_By the Gods, she was beautiful when she was figuring things out, _Draco thought. _Too bad she misunderstood my aims completely._ "No, no those aren't my intentions at all!" He started to get upset. "Damn it, I shouldn't have told you anything. Now you're going to go straight up to my father and tell him that I'm turning my back on the family…" he flopped down in his previous seat looking definitely miserable. He was shaking. "Go on and tell him, I know you want to… he'll kill me when he finds out… he'll kill me… at least it'll be better than following him…"

"Draco, how am I to believe you're telling me the truth?" Halo offered.

_"Maybe the fact that I've never been this upset in front of anyone in my life!"_ he belted out. It was true, he was an awful sight. His nose was running, his cheeks were flushed and he looked like he was afraid that she'd kill him herself.

_Oh Gods, why didn't I keep my mouth shut? I was so sure she'd at least give me a chance to explain… Oh Gods… I'm going to die… she's going to tell…I may have to kill her…_

The conflict in Draco's eyes betrayed him. "Come with me… downstairs, please…"

"Oh no you don't, I know what goes on down there."

_Damn it!_

"And don't you think for a second that I believe you, not until I confirm this with Dumbledore."

_Wait… she's going to confirm it? _"You're not going to tell your father… are you?"

"Of course not! You think I want to get us in trouble?"

He believed her.

"So you'll consider it?"

"I didn't say that."

"But you'll at least think about it…"

"If you really have gone to the Headmaster with this, then it might be worth considering. I'm not sure I want my life controlled for me either, but becoming a Death Eater has some very powerful advantages. I want to do what will best fit my future."

"And you won't tell anyone?"

"If there's anything I _am_ good at, it's keeping a secret."

"Aside from being good at scaring the Hell out of the entire student population?" Draco was regaining some composure, he'd begun to wipe his nose on his sleeve.

Halo afforded a rare, knowing half-smile in response. "You'll have to keep up your act at school, otherwise people will start to wonder what you're up to."

"I _do_ know how to _act_, thank you very much."

"Good. As do I."

Draco wondered what she meant by that.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"So how are the Dementors faring?"

"Quite well, actually. They took it upon themselves to interrupt a Quidditch match to satisfy their need for _human interaction."_ Snape put much emphasis on the last two words.

"My son told me as much." Malfoy paused. "I suppose you're wondering how I found out about her."

"That, among other things."

Lucius Malfoy smiled darkly. "There was a note left on Draco's trunk one morning, with specific information about our Lord's return, and also about a certain young lady who had rather interesting parentage, and some illness that would overcome her this summer. I figured you wouldn't tell me on your own, seeing as you felt it necessary to protect the girl. But we need her. Surely you can understand that."

Snape inclined his head and poured himself another drink. He never drank. But then, he never had to discuss the sensitive topic of his daughter with a man who knew nothing of sensitivity, and whom he most despised. And now there was another element… an unknown spy at Hogwarts. Snape had only one theory: Sirius Black.

"So who was she?" casual conversation nudged upon dark gossip. Lucius Malfoy was good at gossip. He knew everything that went on under the noses of the oblivious, and it itched at him that he hadn't known that his dark colleague was hiding something right under his turned-up nose.

"Who was who?" Snape arched an eyebrow.

"The bloody tramp you screwed to produce that _charming_ future Death Eater who I assume is presently flirting with my son."

"Peri Mandelor." Snape thanked the Gods that Dumbledore had filled him in on the lost information, making it possible to twist it as much as he needed to make the cover story plausible.

"What?"

"Halo was left along with a note at the gates when she was only a few days old. A blood test proved she was mine," he lied. He was usually good at lying, as good as Malfoy was at gossiping.

"I seem to remember we had a follower named Mandelor some fifteen years ago… as I recall, he didn't get on too well with his comrades and ran off." Malfoy appeared to be straining to surface long forgotten information. "Ah yes! I remember now, You weren't there when we found him, were you? No you weren't… you were off convincing that old fool Dumbledore to trust you. We all took turns… there must have been ten of us… the idiot was so terrified he wet himself before we'd even lifted a wand to him. It was one of the less memorable events, but drawn out longer than most. It took him forever to die." The greater of the two evils in the room was positively giddy recollecting the details of his victim's death.

"That was Peri's brother, Linnaeus. I allowed Halo to retain the name for her protection."

"Excellent. It will be much more difficult for Dumbledore's esteemed colleagues to link her to you once she accepts her duties with us, don't you agree?"

"Halo won't have anything to do with our plans… yet," Snape interrupted. "Not until after she finished school. She'd just as soon be confronted by the Headmaster and tell him everything." He hoped this would be enough to convince the silver-haired man sharing the silent, warded upstairs chamber with him.

It wasn't.

The elder Malfoy's voice was velvety and condescending. "You really expect me to believe that, don't you? Severus, you're losing your touch." He walked the study, the wheels in his brain almost visibly turning. "No, I don't believe she'll tell anyone, least of all that senile old coot who runs that school. She would certainly have informed him of your true allegiance." He stepped around Severus to the window and looked below to his guests in the courtyard. "As I understand it, she'll only be useful until the summer. Plenty of time to get valuable information through her from Dumbledore… in fact, I don't believe the old fool knows that she is yours, does he?"

"No. And I don't want this getting back to him, or she'll be useless to our side. I suggest that you… _encourage_ your son to keep this little piece of information to himself." Snape's tone was mildly threatening.

"Already done."

"And he'll be keeping his hands to himself as well."

"Now Severus, you know as well as I do that my son is just that, a boy who has desires… and he'll require only the best."

"He won't be getting it from _my_ daughter."

"Perhaps… not _yet_."


	15. Tapestry

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART FIFTEEN: TAPESTRY 

"Come, Halo. We're leaving."

Snape had barged into the antechamber near midnight and was relieved to see that his daughter did not appear to have been seduced, fondled, raped, manhandled, abused, ruffled, upset or touched in any way, for that matter. But she was clutching her handkerchief.

"Always a pleasure, Halo," Draco stated, a slight, imperceptible edge to his voice.

"One not to be soon repeated, I assure you," her tongue lashed him.

Snape nearly smiled with pride at the remark. She truly was growing on him, he realized as he ushered her through the estate and into the carriage that would return them to Hogwarts.

She sighed heavily, releasing the pent-up anxiety that had been settling more and more heavily on her shoulders as the evening drew on. It was a wonder that one exhalation could release such an immense amount of tension.

"I'm proud of your performance tonight, Halo. It was more than adequate," he told her as he sat down on the bench next to her.

Halo turned an accusatory glare in his direction. "You can honestly say that you're proud of me, but you can't find it in your heart to love me, is that it?"

"I cannot declare feelings that I do not know how to possess. I am truly sorry, Halo." Regret, coming from Severus Snape, was a rare and terrifying confession indeed.

Her mind whirled._ I just don't understand him. I want to, but I don't. He denies everything that makes him human, and I can't reach him. It's useless._ Halo was quiet for a long time.

_Breathe, Severus. You must try not to screw things up further.._ "I assume everything went well."

"Oh, the things I could tell you…"

"He didn't touch you, did he?"

"No."

He sighed with relief.

"I'm so tired."

"Then sleep. We'll be home soon."

"Home…" Halo yawned, leaning to one side to rest her head on his shoulder. "There is no such place…" she muttered as she fell asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Christmas Day dawned sunny and cold. Halo was aware of a feeling of immense warmth and blinked her eyes open slowly, finding her room much altered. She shot up in bed_. It wasn't like this last night… last night! I fell asleep in the carriage… then how did I get in here?_ she wondered. She was dressed in unfamiliar warm, soft gray flannel pajamas and her dress from the night before hung on the bathroom door. She scanned her room for further abnormalities.

A fire was burning in the fireplace, and the mantel had been decorated with sprigs of pine and holly berries. On her bedside table was a plate of breakfast pastries and a tall glass of pumpkin juice. On the opposite wall, where her desk usually stood was a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. And underneath the tree were piles of presents.

_Since when do I have friends who I deserve to get presents from?_

Climbing out of bed, she settled on the rug in front of the tree and picked up a large box wrapped in scarlet paper. A note dangling from a gold bow on top of the box read, _"Merry Christmas to the sweetest Slytherin I know, from Professor Dumbledore."_ She lifted the lid of the box to reveal that it was stuffed to the brim with sweets from Honeydukes: lemon drops, chocolate frogs, fizzing whizbees, stringmints… a sample of the entire inventory, it appeared. She made a mental note to thank the Headmaster personally.

Next was a small, flat, linen-wrapped parcel from Professor McGonagall. It was a journal… the Professor's own Transfiguration journal from when she was a Hogwarts student! _"I hope this will help you with your difficulties in my class. If anything, it may show you how difficult the class was for me so long ago. Use it well,"_ the attached note read.

A roll of parchment on top of a wicker picnic basket caught her eye. _I guess the House Elves left lunch as well as breakfast,_ she assumed. She unrolled the parchment. It was dated December twenty-third.

_Dear Halo,_

_I don't know how to begin. I am so deeply sorry for walking out on you that day. You needed me to be there, and I wasn't. I can't even begin to imagine how much it hurt you, or how I can possibly make it up to you. What you're going through hit me so hard, I thought it was me who was dying, and then I realized I'd go in your place if I could. Please forgive me. I'll be returning to Hogwarts in the late afternoon of Christmas Day. What I want most is to spend the rest of the holiday with you, if you'll have me. I miss you._

_My heart is forever yours._

_-Olli_

_P.S. I hope your gift arrives unharmed. I've asked Hagrid to deliver it to your room in a basket on Christmas morning._

Halo blinked back tears as she realized what unconditional friendship felt like… the only friend she had was begging her forgiveness, and she'd never once done a thing to be worthy of his friendship. The joy she felt as his unconditional acceptance was so immense it hurt, bringing a lump to her throat.

She reached for the basket, which she assumed would contain his gift to her. He did say "in a basket" after all, didn't he? The plucked a blue bow off the wooden clasp and lifted the lid.

"Mew!" cried a tiny voice.

"Oh my gosh," Halo exclaimed out loud, reaching into the basket and gingerly removing a tiny, squirming Cornish Rex kitten. It let out another _mew!_ as she brought the little calico body to her chest. It purred and nuzzled under her chin.

Tears flowed freely from Halo's eyes as several moments passed while the kitten basked in her owner's scent. Finally, she squirmed out of her human's arms and explored the safety of the lap underneath her. Halo giggled at the spunky ball of black nose, whip-tail and curly-haired body marching possessively around her lap. She finally settled in the middle and curled into an upside-down ball with her leathery-black toes in the air.

"Tapestry, that's what I'll call you. Do you like that?"

_"Mew!"_ came the definitive response.

"Then let it be. 'Tap' it is."

Halo was mindful of the ball of striped legs balanced in her lap as she reached for the next present. It was a modestly-wrapped flat parcel with a scroll attached. She recognized the green wax seal immediately as her father's.

_Dearest Halo,_

I spent a great deal of time these past months thinking about you. Even the times I became overwhelmingly irritated could not prevent me from seeing what a brilliant young lady you've become. I admire your spirit, your determination, and your kindness. Although I am not certain of my feelings, be assured that I have them. I am reluctant to express them toward you with the fear that they may not be what I perceive them to be, but take some comfort in the fact that I am trying. I will endeavor to be the best father I can be to you in the time remaining. I must ask your forgiveness if this is not what you expected, as I am still searching for what I expect from myself. I can honestly inform you that I meant what I wrote next to your name; you are the dearest thing I have in my life. I only hope what I feel can be enough. Whatever you ask of me, I will do my best to provide.

_Sincerest regards,_

_-Your Father_

Inside the parcel was an old, leather-bound book with gold lettering that read, "The Secrets of High Magic."

"He's trusting me with his most powerful spell book?" she said aloud, completely taken aback. She opened the book and a slip of parchment fell out.

I assumed you'd open the book upon unwrapping it. I'd like you to spend Christmas dinner with me tonight. I must make an appearance in the Great Hall at the Headmaster's request, but I will join you shortly after.

She wasn't sure how to feel about the whole thing. Her first reaction was to shout up to the heavens that she'd been saved, but her past experience told her that if she got her hopes up, she was setting herself up for the biggest disappointment of her short life, and a deadly disappointment at that. She made a mental note to talk to him later.

Then there were the standard trendy clothes from the DeMornays. A few books, a set of old-fashioned ink pens to substitute those confounded quills everybody but her was so content to use, and a Christmas card with a picture of a black Thoroughbred on the front. _Wizard,_ she thought.

_Our Halo,_

_Merry Christmas! As usual, life isn't the same when you're away at school. Wizard misses you; we put his picture on the front of this card. We have some wonderful news: You're going to be a big sister in August! We didn't think it was possible, but magic works in mysterious ways, as we're sure you're discovering. We've already found out that it's a girl. We already know she'll love you as much as we do. It's a shame you couldn't be with us this Christmas, but we understand how important school is to you. Give your father our regards, and we eagerly await your return in the summer._

_All our love,_

Mama & Dad DeMornay 

Halo's emotions came to a screeching halt. Her body went slightly numb.

It was just like when she had been told she was dying. It made her feel like she was reliving it all over again. A sister. She was finally going to have the sister she'd always wanted, and she probably wouldn't live to see her. Ironic, isn't it? Life couldn't be much more cruel.

She tossed the note aside and went for the last present.

It was from Draco.

The note was a reiteration of his request for her to speak with the Headmaster. It was attached to a small box containing a delicate silver serpent ring. The metal was smooth and wound around the wearer's finger as a miniature snake would. It was beautiful.

But Halo knew better than to touch it. She had to talk to the Headmaster first. She scooped Tapestry from her lap and placed the kitten on her bed while she dressed in jeans and a close-fitting ,dark gray sweater. With a mew of protest, Tap took her rightful place on her owner's shoulder as Halo left the dungeons.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Come in, Halo. We've been expecting you," Dumbledore greeted her at the door to his office. "I assume you had a nice Christmas morning?"

Yes, sir. Thank you for the sweets, they're lovely." She offered a rare smile to the old wizard.

"And who is this?" he indicated to the kitten clawing into her shoulder.

"This is Tap, she's a gift from Oliver."

Fawkes the Phoenix eyed the intruder, saw that Tap was hardly a threat and went back to sleep.

"I see, he approved. "I hear he's returning this afternoon and will be happy to see you."

"I hope so, sir."

"Well come in, come in," he steered her into the room. "I've already heard one side of your efforts last night, but I haven't heard your side yet."

Halo was not surprised to see her father sitting on the leather couch when she entered. He moved over to provide her room to sit down. "Good morning, Father."

"Happy Christmas, Halo," he said as he eyed the cat who had dropped to her lap when she seated herself. _Is she disappointed? In my gift or the letter I wrote? Maybe she's in shock over the letter… It was a bit out of character… but she must know how I feel, I owe her that much. If she didn't like my gift, she would not have said a word to me. It must be a good sign, _he silently ranted.

"Would you like a Christmas cookie before you begin?" Dumbledore offered her a plate of sugar cookies and she took one sprinkled with white and blue sugar crystals.

"Thank you," she said, chewing slowly as she organized her thoughts. She vaguely heard her father and the Headmaster speaking around her as she finished her treat.

She swallowed, took a deep breath, and began the story slowly, not omitting any bit of information, petting the roaming feline for comfort.

"…So after he bumped into me in Diagon Alley he realized he didn't want to take the Mark after all, and since he's convinced that you're still a Death Eater," she indicated to her father, "that you'd be pressuring me to get the Mark as well. He was frantically trying to talk me out of it."

"Remarkable," Dumbledore said, to no one in particular.

Halo looked confused. "What is?"

"You say he came to this conclusion after your altercation in London?"

"That's right… what does being in London have to do with it?"

"It doesn't have to do with being in London, so much as it has to do with the two of you being there at the same time, and the fact that you used your abilities on him." The Headmaster circled the room, deep in thought.

Snape's low voice broke through the silence. "Halo, do you remember you read in the Book of the Siren?"

"A bit, only about how I'm… able… to…" her face lit up. "…compel man to realize the error of his ways and force him to suffer for his moral injustice."

"Precisely."

"I did that? That was me? But I didn't have any control over it… I can't even control my own life, much less _this!" _she dropped her face into her hands and rubbed her forehead vigorously.

"There's more you're not telling us, Halo." Dumbledore sounded concerned. "Please talk to us."

"Albus, I think she just needs rest…"

"Perhaps later, Severus," Dumbledore said gently to the younger man before turning his attention toward Halo again. "Please, Halo. I believe you'll feel better to get it off your chest."

Halo raised her head and rubbed her hands on her jeans. Her cheeks were wet and she sniffled.

Tap had abandoned her lap and was sniffing at the robes pooling around the Potions Master. Snape eyed the kitten warily.

"My other parents… the DeMornays…" She began, then broke into choked, sobbing tears, hiding her face in her hands as the wealth of denied emotions hit her.

Dumbledore moved his chair to sit directly in front of her, shooting Snape a glance that plainly stated, Take the initiative! When Snape made no move, he patted her knee as a caring grandfather would.

"It's all right, my Dear, you can tell us. Has something happened?"

Halo fought back tears, trying to regain composure long enough to speak again. "They… wrote me… this morning… they're having… a baby… I'm going… to have a little sister… but by the time… she's born I won't be… around to see her…" She'd held the tears at bay for as long as she could, but her emotional hysterics took control. Without another thought, she fled the office.

Snape didn't know what to do. A layer of ice was being slowly chipped away from his heart as Halo spilled her pent-up emotions, but lack of past experience in comforting others found him at a loss for action.

"Go after her, man! Go!" Dumbledore urged him, retrieving the frightened kitten from where it was dumped to the floor when Snape darted out of the office.

Halo ran. She had no destination, no goal other than to outrun the flood of unmerciful sensations that had swept her into panic. Without thinking, she burst through the front door and ran halfway down the front steps before something yanked her back.

The dark, hooded figures were approaching again.

_"Expecto Patronum!"_ The giant silver cat leapt from the end of Snape's wand and charged at the Dementors, who fled instantly. He pulled Halo, who was fighting him every step of the way, back through the great wooden doors and into the entry hall.

Halo fought with all the strength she possessed, screaming at him all the while. She felt like death was overcoming her, and she rebelled with all the fury of thirteen and a half years of unreleased and compounded emotional stress. She had to get away. She had to escape. Strong arms were pulling her in, and through the frenzy of thrashing to escape she inhaled a scent of cedar from his robes… it stopped her movement, but she went rigid.

"Shhh… it's all right. Please calm down. You're safe. Please, relax…" His arms were crushing her to his warm body, rocking her back and forth; one hand stroked her hair, while the other awkwardly rubbed circles on her back. He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he had to soothe the poor girl before she shook the castle to the ground. He had no intention of letting go any time soon.

Dumbledore finally caught up with them, having witnessed the scene on the front steps from an upstairs window. He was cradling the kitten, who had taken refuge in clinging to his robes. The image of his usually impenetrable disciple consoling the child he so often rejected was almost too much for the old man, who had to steady himself on the railing of the stone staircase.

Halo surrendered to her father's voice, so feared but familiar, and oddly comforting. She let go of her rigidity and clung somewhat limply in his arms, exhausted and plagued by tears. She didn't have the strength to struggle when he adjusted slightly and lifted her in his arms, holding her head against his shoulder. Adrift in a world she couldn't understand, she fought one last battle against fatigue and devastating emotion and in turn, lost consciousness.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Severus Snape sighed heavily. He'd taken his daughter back to her room, placed her in bed and pulled up a chair next to her to begin his bedside vigil. He just sat there, staring into the fire that had been left burning all morning.

Dumbledore stood in the doorway, watching him.

"Don't say it, Albus, just don't."

"I wasn't going to. I only wished to return the girl's familiar," Dumbledore set the kitten on the floor, "and now I'm off to owl Minister Fudge on the Dementor situation. They are a right dangerous nuisance." With that said, he backed out of the room and closed the door.

_"Mew?"_

Snape peered down at Tap, who peered right back up at him.

"What do _you_ want?"

_"Mrrrpp!" _the kitten vocalized, leaping gracefully from the floor to perch on his knee. Snape plucked her from his trousers and set her on the bed next to Halo's shoulder. Tap sniffed at her hair, batted the nearly-black locks, then turned around three times before curling up on her side.

"He turns his back on her and then gives her an exceptionally expensive cat. Some friend," Snape said to no one in particular. _And who do you suppose will have to take care of it when she's gone? Me. It figures._

Halo slept for an hour, and awoke to the sensation of sandpaper being rubbed across her fingers. Her eyes slowly focused on Tap, who was licking her hand, then butting her head against her fingers. Halo absently scratched behind the kitten's ears, savoring the silky softness of its fine, curly, calico fur. Her mind seemed not to notice that any amount of time went by, as she remembered exactly what happened up to the point where she lost consciousness.

"It was all real, wasn't it…"

"Yes."

She turned over to face him, drawing Tap into her chest and inhaling the pillow under her cheek. "I don't want it to be real."

"For your sake, I don't either."

_He looks tired,_ she thought.

"How long was I asleep?"

Not long, only an hour."

His voice was unusually tame, she noticed. It was rather… _indifferent,_ actually. She wondered if it meant that he was too tired to feel anything, or if he was preventing himself from lashing out. She hoped it was the former, that way at least he wouldn't be able to yell at her for running away. She remembered how it had felt to be in his arms, somewhat comforting, confining, but mostly a sensation of immense safety. It was… interesting, admitting that she felt safe with him. It was brief, but nice, all the same.

He pulled out an old pocket watch and studied it for a moment. "Your friend will be here in an hour, so you'd best pick yourself up," he said, replacing it in his pocket. "What do you intend to tell him?"

"I don't know. The truth, maybe?" she sounded even more confused than she looked. "I doubt anything I tell him could surprise him at this point."

Snape inhaled deeply. "Halo, I realize that it is… difficult, for you to think about certain subjects… but if it's any consolation, be assured that I will make all arrangements, and I give you my word that I won't interfere in any of your wishes. Just tell me what you need, and it's yours."

"I need…" _What do I need?_ "I'd like some time alone with Oliver when he gets here."

"Done."

_Am I dreaming?_

"I also need to know what you and the Headmaster intend to do about Draco Malfoy."

"It will be… handled. I will keep you informed."

"Did he really go to the Headmaster about it?"

"Yes."

"Then I really did do that…"

"Yes."

Halo sat in stunned silence. Tap pounced on a rumpled corner of the sheets, kicking it furiously with her back feet. Halo stroked the cat's body softly.

"Will you…"

"I will look after her. I promise," he relented.

She nodded, the gratitude clear in the brief glance she gave him. "Will you… look after me as well?"

"Of course."

"Thank you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_A/N: I have posted a picture of "Tap" on my site at: _


	16. Resolution

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART SIXTEEN: RESOLUTION 

"So… how have you been?" Oliver stammered.

He'd shown up about an hour later, as promised. The boy was shaking, he looked as though he thought he'd be slapped across the face any second. He'd shoved his hands into the pockets of his khaki trousers, he hoped, to avert some of the obvious trembling of his fingers. _She has no reason to accept me, not after what I did…_

"I've been better," she answered honestly.

Oliver nodded dumbly, not sure what to say. _Come on you prat, just say it. Just ask…_

His eyes latched onto her face, so unsure of his next words. "Halo, please… I've been awful. To myself, but even more to you, who I want nothing more from than to be with me. Please, give me another chance…"

There. He said it.

"Olli, do you…" _Please say yes… please say yes…_

 "What is it?"

"Do you love me?"

Oliver Wood had never been so stunned in his life. His heart spoke where his brain couldn't.

"Yes, Halo. I do."

And when he took her in his arms, she didn't think to ask him why. Why he loved her. Why he wanted to be with her. Why he didn't ask for her love in return. And then she knew why.

She loved him too.

And she told him so.

He pulled her so close, she could feel his heart pounding frantically in his chest. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling the light smell of her shampoo, the warmth of her radiating into his chilled body. "I've missed you," he told her. He pulled back slightly, sighing as he looked longingly at her face. "I'm about to kiss you…" he let her know, then inched his face closer to hers.

She felt his warm breath against her cheek first, then his lips brushed hers. She closed her eyes and allowed her mouth to press softly against his. He responded by gently drawing her closer, running his fingers through her hair, and all he could think about was the feel of her untouched and inexperienced mouth, and slowly he moved his lips to encourage hers to respond to his caresses.

Halo was growing weak with the flood of raw passion and fumbled awkwardly at his shoulders to steady herself. Sensing her weakened state, Oliver broke the kiss gently and guided her to sit down on her bed, never taking his eyes off her. "Are you all right? Do you need anything?"

It took a few deep breaths to reclaim her composure before she could answer him honestly. "I'm all right… I've just never done that before."

Oliver chuckled lightly. "I guessed as much." He held her in his arms.

"Mew!" Tap wandered into the bedroom again after venturing into the bathroom some thirty minutes before and doing battle with a spider underneath the claw-footed bathtub. The spider was now dangling lifelessly from her mouth.

"There's my girl," Oliver happily picked up the kitten and snatched the dead spider from her mouth, tossing it on the floor where the young feline hopefully wouldn't find it. The kitten batted at his face when he held her up to cuddle her. "How do you like your new home?" he asked the little calico, who answered with a claw-sheathed swipe at his nose. He turned to Halo. "I hope she wasn't too much of a shock… my mum told me to pick another one but she was the only one who reminded me of you."

"Oh no, Olli, I love her… your mother helped you pick her out?"

"My mum's cat is this one's mother… she was the runt, but she had the most spark. Mum wasn't sure she'd live when she was born, but now she's the liveliest of the bunch."

_And my father had thought you'd spent Galleons on her,_ Halo told herself silently.

"She's wonderful."

"Are you sure?" By then, Tap had retreated to Halo's trunk at the foot of the bed and curled up for a thorough cleansing.

"Yes. I've never had a real pet before, and I doubt a Sentinel owl or a retired racehorse count as a familiar."

"Racehorse?" Anything that had to do with any type of sport had Oliver Wood's complete attention.

"My family in America bought him for me at the end of last summer, with the intention that he'd be re-trained as a show horse by this coming summer…" her voice trailed off.

Oliver didn't know what to say. A lump rose in his throat, and he fought to keep it down by taking her hand and giving it a firm squeeze. "Is there anything you want me to do?" he whispered.

Halo shook her head. She wasn't going to burden herself on him, not if she could help it.

He prodded at her silence. "Halo… anything in my ability to give is yours… anything that will make you happy, it's all I ever want."

She looked up at him, his eyes searching hers for acceptance. "It means a lot… but all I wanted was you, and now that you're here, I can't think of a single thing, short of the obvious, that I will ever want more than what you've already given me."

Oliver brought a hand to her face, brushing his fingertips against her skin, almost to prove to himself that she was truly there next to him. After a few long moments he was satisfied to spend the next hour with her in his arms, kissing her, memorizing her, simply being with her.

And deeper into the dungeons, Severus Snape sat at his desk, gazing into a pensieve that overlooked his daughter's room. Part of him wanted to march straight up there and tear the three-years-older student from his daughter's embrace, the other part wished he could give his responsibility over to the young man whom he now knew had the ability to save her. And then he cursed a string of expletives at himself for having told Halo he'd stay out of it.

"What was that?"

Snape's heart leapt to his throat in a wave of ice that threw him into a momentary panic. He brought a hand to his chest.

It happened at least once a week, being interrupted by an unreasonably stealthy intruder. "Don't sneak up on me, Albus," he breathed as he tried to get his pulse back under his control.

"Once again, my friend, I apologize for startling you, but surely you could improve your choice of language, even when you think no one is listening." Dumbledore took a seat in one of the leather chairs. "May I intrude on your thoughts as well?"

Snape sat back in his chair once more and waved his hand over the pensieve. "_That_ is what's bothering me."

"They look fine to me."

"He's three years older than her!"

"And still quite young for his age, as she's more adult for hers."

"It still isn't right."

"Then why aren't you doing the fatherly thing and putting them in their places?"

"Because… because I promised Halo that I wouldn't interfere, giving that she has so little time left. I want her to be happy."

"Are you sure that's wise, Severus?"

"No!" Snape tore himself from his chair and prowled the room. "I'm not sure of anything anymore! Especially how I feel about all this… if she hadn't been forced into my life in the first place, my feelings for her might be different, more willing… but that isn't the case, and I'll tell you, Albus, it scares the hell out of me. There you have it. Your infamous Potions Master is frightened. Does that content you?"

Dumbledore sighed one of his trademark, 'I'm-about-to-begin-one-of-my-famous-enlightening-speeches' sighs. "That's what I'm trying to tell you. Somewhere between perfect bliss and insipid trepidation exists a realm of feelings, sensations and emotions. It is the most rewarding gift there is, and though it does not come without its tribulations, it is, in one definition, infinite. It's called love, Severus. And it's far from perfect, but you have the ability, just as everyone else does, to feel it."

Snape slumped into his chair. "I don't know how."

"Don't know, or won't try?" Dumbledore stood, patted the younger wizard on the shoulder, and left the younger man to his thoughts, but not before turning in the doorway. "I'll see you at the feast." It was not a suggestion.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Oliver Wood sat facing the dormitory window at midnight. It was New Years Day, now, and for what it was worth, he cast his Resolution spell. He thought long and hard what he most wanted, and for whom he wanted it. In the end, he could only think of one thing.__

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was March. It was still cold out, even at noon, as a chill air blew through the open window of the Headmaster's office, where a distraught Professor Snape ranted.

"Talking to her is like herding cats, Albus! I simply cannot make her listen to reason!"

"Calm yourself, Severus. Now, should I speak to her about it or should you?"

They were having another meeting. About her. Halo had taken it upon herself in a fit of self-piteous rage to demolish the trophy room after the morning Transfiguration lesson. She was currently under house arrest in her room, awaiting their verdict and her sentence.

There was a long silence, in which Snape considered letting the old man take care of it for once. But no, it was his responsibility, and as usual, the Headmaster was waiting for him to admit it.

"I'll take care of it."

Albus nodded his approval. "She still needs guidance from you. Whatever you've decided as to her future, as her father, she still requires it of you."

Leaving Dumbledore's office with a terse nod, Snape spun on his heel and strode past the gargoyle toward the dungeons, his robes flapping behind him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It truly was like herding cats. Like the felines, her mind scattered at his each attempt to corral it into a very specific subject. She'd have the dispute on a tangent before he even finished a sentence, and every attempt to pull her back to the matter at hand had her shifting the tracks, so the oncoming train that was his line of reasoning had no time to stop before rolling past the junction. And his anger wasn't helping; it only served to fuel the locomotive's fire and trigger a severe headache. The fact was simple… she just wouldn't stand to reason. And it was his fault.

And he knew it.

_"You'll stay in here until you can behave like a normal human being!"_

_"Fine!"_

_"Fine!"_ And he stormed out, slamming the door behind him. _Bang!_

Halo crossed her arms. "Hmmph." Then she called Draco Malfoy to her room.

"I could get in a lot of trouble if my father finds out that I have this, let alone gave it to you," he told her.

"Then you need to make sure that he doesn't find out," she tucked the parchment into her pocket. "So what does Dumbledore say?"

"He says he'll protect me as much as he can, and he just wants me to keep an ear out for anything that could help him. I'm supposed to act as though everything is as it was. I suppose it won't be too hard; I know how I'll get treated if anyone finds out I've gone soft," he practiced a sneer.

"Well it's too late to tell you not to give people that look or it'll freeze that way."

"What… hey!"

"Just keeping you on your toes, Malfoy."

""Ahhh… you're good at that," he told her, moving a little closer. "In fact, there are some things I'm sure you're _very_ good at…" he stared at her.

Halo's blood ran instantly sour. She went rigid… her eyelids closed and reopened suddenly, and in that second her eyes flashed suddenly crimson. In an instant she had taken on the appearance of a demon possessed.

_"Touch me and die."_

Her voice had taken on an almighty resonance. She could have become a Goddess incarnate, as far as Draco Malfoy was concerned. His eyes were fixed on hers, and not by his own will. "I understand… I'm sorry milady," his voice droned, as though he were a puppet having his voice thrown for him.

Halo returned to her normal appearance and slumped down into a chair, holding onto the arms for stability. "Now go."

Draco bowed, still dazed, and left her alone.

_What the hell is happening to me? _she thought, shoving aside her plans in an attempt to make light of the event with Draco, then shook it off. _No… I can't be thinking about that now… if my plan works, and it will, he won't have any choice but to love me. It just has to work._ And with that, she crawled into bed and fell asleep.

She slept past dark, and woke just as the castle had become silent. Dormitories were full; corridors, classrooms and communal areas were deserted. Not a creature was stirring, not even Mrs. Norris, nor a single House Elf.

On one hand, it was unlikely she could maintain the silence. On the other hand, it was a difficult task to sustain that calm in bypassing the locked door to the Potions classroom, and then an impossibility to break into the restricted Potions storage and then into a lockbox containing a small number of items, any one of which would earn its owner a life sentence in Azkaban simply for its possession. She drew out an unlabeled vial of thick, translucent amber liquid and stashed it in her robes. At the fireplace in the currently uninhabited adjoining office she took a handful of Floo powder and went to stand in the pile of ashes in the hearth. In calling for her destination, she was sure she'd be heard, but by the time anyone moved to investigate, she'd be long gone.

And if her father _had_ been in his room, he would have discovered her long before this. But he wasn't. Not until just after she'd Flooed out did he Floo in. He dusted off the ash from his trousers and exited the hearth, moving swiftly toward his office. He stopped short when he saw the door to his cabinet left open, and upon further examination found the tampered lockbox.

He nearly screamed with rage. _"POTTER!"_

Then his mind stopped him… _No, he's not smart enough… Perhaps Miss Granger? **Sirius Black?**_ No, it couldn't be… could it? He rummaged in the select items of the box until he discovered which was missing. Now what would the criminal want with that? Unless… He strode purposefully to the Headmaster's private room to report the burglary, his previous situation completely forgotten.

He was still stewing in his pissed-off state when his first class arrived for Advanced Potions the next morning. As he had allowed their relationship to continue, Halo and Oliver had sat together religiously, but when young Mr. Wood showed up for class, she wasn't with him. He swept over to the concerned young man, ignoring the rest of his students. "And just where is Miss Mandelor this morning?"

"I don't know sir, she wasn't in her room."

His mind visibly put two and two together. "Class dismissed!" He stabbed a finger at Oliver. "You will follow me."

Albus Dumbledore was in his office when Snape charged into it, followed timidly but concernedly by Oliver Wood.

"It was Halo," Snape announced to the old man.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Where is she?"

"No one knows."

"Sir, if I may…" Oliver chimed in. "She's been pretty quiet this past week, but she did talk to Draco Malfoy last Wednesday, perhaps that has something to do with it." he gulped, seeing the two older wizards exchange a furtive glance. "Is she in trouble?"

"Stay here," Snape hissed to the young man.

"But…"

_"I SAID STAY HERE!" _He shouted, nearly knocking Oliver into a chair when he swept out of the office.

He pulled Draco out of his Transfiguration class, shooting a glare of warning at Professor McGonagall, who looked ready to object to such abrupt treatment of his student. He then glared at the Potter clan, almost disappointed that he couldn't nail the trio with blame for what was stolen from his office this time. Pulling Draco into the hall, he held him at arms length against a stone wall.

"Where is she?"

"Who?"

"Don't toy with me, Draco, or I swear you'll lose a valued body part!"

"Halo?"

"Yes!  Now I ask you once again, where is she?"

"She's…"

_"TELL ME!"_

"… intercepting a Death Eater meeting… this morning… it already happened… she says she wanted… to do it for you…" Draco choked out.

Snape's face went from sallow to white. He released Malfoy and swept down the hall at a dead run, vowing to deal with the boy when he returned… if he returned…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

…and as Halo moved stealthily through the trees toward her destination, she made a vow of her own… to leave this world by making her father proud of her. And then she downed the contents of the forbidden vial.


	17. Genocide

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

****WARNING** The story takes a very nasty turn, meaning that this chapter contains exceedingly gruesome details. If you cannot stomach it, there will be a summary at the beginning of the next chapter (sans gore) so you won't miss anything important. Knowing my lack of power for persuasion, you'll probably read this chapter anyway, but I figured I should put this here in case there actually are a few involved parents left out there who care about what their kids are reading.**

From the previous chapter: …And as she moved stealthily through the trees toward her destination, Halo made a vow of her own… to leave this world by making her father proud of her. And then she downed the contents of the forbidden vial.

PART SEVENTEEN: GENOCIDE 

The camp was only a hundred meters away. She could see it clearly from the edge of the forest; a cluster of shadowy figures surrounding a blue-flamed bonfire. Her lungs had begun to stretch themselves, expanding and thickening as the potion had intended. A sharp pain issued from her throat and just as quickly subsided. Her breathing slowed dramatically, but left her just as alert and aware. The figures circling the roaring fire… there were at least fifty of them… were oblivious to her intentions. And it was just as she'd planned.

She stepped out of the wood.

It was then that the Death Eaters sensed her presence. They turned to see her moving quickly toward them, and as they went to draw their wands…

_It's now or never…_ her eyes went crimson as they had just a day before and she let out a resounding scream just as they leapt to arms. Visible waves of sound undulated from her body, rippling and surging into a luminescent halo around her.

The sound was deafening, reverberating like a machine gun. The Death Eaters shrieked in agony, and blood poured from their apertures, but their anguished cries could not be heard over the sound produced by their assailant. Forced into a frozen state by the shimmering waves, they were unable to draw their wands or move in to stop her, for they were only conscious of the pain resonating through their tenuous, corrupt bodies.

And just as she was beginning to run out of breath…

…one by one, every single Death Eater spontaneously combusted.

Torn body parts flew in every direction, the only forces preventing the blood, flesh, fluids and entrails from hitting her were the last of the repelling echoes of sound, which ceased shortly after the last chunk of viscera hit the ground. Carnage on that scale hadn't been witnessed in centuries. The ground beneath her feet became quickly soaked with body fluids, turning it to a swamp of butchery. And then she realized what she was.

She was a killer.

_No…_

_A hunter, _she decided._ Killers have no honorable purpose. _She wanted to rid the world of filthy, contemptible scum, and she had just done so.

With what strength she had left, she stumbled back the way she had came, her feet schlooping in the newly created mud, back to the solid ground of the forest floor, where the bloodbath had not yet touched the soil. It was there that she collapsed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He wanted to call out her name, knowing that it would, in part, make it easier to locate her, but also knowing she probably would not come when called. She sometimes reminded him of a cat… a stray cat, one that would get trustingly close one moment, then hiss and run the next. He simply could not figure her out, and he knew her flighty behavior was probably all his fault. Nevertheless, he trudged on, deciding it was probably best to make no noise, as he risked be located more quickly by those he would rather not run into on this trip.

He knew where the camp was, in the center of a No-Apparation Zone, but he had no idea which direction she'd come from in her approach to that location, so he'd have to reach the camp before continuing his search. A strange, organic rotting smell breezed his way upon his approach to the destination; his sensitive nose wrinkling at the displeasure of it. He stopped, stunned… as he could not believe his eyes when he arrived at the edge of the clearing.

Not even bodies. Parts… some still quite identifiable… were lying everywhere. The ground had congealed with drying body fluids. The early morning beginnings of warmth cultivated the stench until it was unbearable. He looked down in an attempt to control the urge to vomit and saw, at his feet, a partial, mangled, blood-caked skull crawling with forest vermin. Snape had to forego breathing as he would have preferred in order to keep from passing out. Moving carefully to avoid stepping on the pieces he made his way around the forest edge, his usual detachment wearing off and attempting vainly not to panic.

_Where could she be? Is she among the… oh no… she can't be… _his blood ran cold. _She must be all right… it can't end this way… I have to tell her… tell her what? That I… no, I couldn't possibly… it's absurd, all I'm capable of feeling is pity for the poor girl… the poor girl who must have done this… how could she have survived?_

He racked his brains, retching when he saw what could have once been a former Death Eater colleague's brains in the soup of carnage at his feet, wondering what state he'd find Halo in, assuming she was still among the solid… as any major breakthrough she'd made had cost her quite a lot of strength. _It's possible she's dead… and I will never have had the chance to…_

"Stop it! Just stop!" he told himself out loud. And then he saw her.

Lying in a pile of leaves at the base of a tree skin pale as ever, hair tangled and lips quite blue, she looked like death personified. He ran to her. Her cheeks felt like ice, and upon inspection of the pulse point under her chin, her heart rhythm was fading, but present. Snape felt an adrenaline surge take over his brain, just as it does when one picks up a hot potato, and lifted the frail girl into his arms, racing away from the clearing at a breakneck pace. It must have been ten minutes before he reached the border of the "Zone," at which point he held Halo as close to his body as he could and thought of home… of Hogwarts…

… and appeared at the gates. He dashed past the Dementors, who had apparently decided from the last two encounters that this wizard was not to be messed with, as they remained at their posts, watching him warily. He had her in the Hospital Wing as quickly as he had it in him to get her there. He dropped her onto a bed and sunk to the floor at her side, gasping for breath when Poppy Pomfrey rushed in and, without question, began tending to her.

And as if he had a premonition that his Potions Master with daughter in tow would be there, Albus Dumbledore banged his way through the heavy wooden doors with a distressed Oliver Wood close at his heels.

"You've found her, thank goodness."

Severus gestured with his hands, trying to follow them up with his voice, but was too out of breath to speak and just shook a finger in Oliver's direction. Oliver got the hint and just as quickly defied it.

"Oh no, I'm staying," he said, going to Halo's other side. "She needs me."

_How could you possibly know what she needs? _Snape wanted to say, shooting a dangerous glare at Oliver, then turning his head to the Headmaster. "Must… speak with… something… terrible…" he choked out between ragged breaths. The older wizard helped to pull him to his feet and indicated toward the medwitch's office, offering a "she'll be fine, I'm sure" when Snape looked back to where his daughter lay unconscious.

Dumbledore handed him a conjured glass of water once he'd gotten his breathing under control, which he gulped down in record time. "I was too late," he gasped. "She killed them… all of them…" he explained everything.

The old wizard nodded when he'd completed his recount of the event. "Are you sure everyone was… dead?"

"Absolutely."

"Then perhaps it is safe to assume that no one saw the event who can inform the remaining league of Death Eaters, though any assumption on our part could lead to the destruction of our forces, as those who oppose us have demonstrated in the past. We ought to brace ourselves; it is only a matter of time before word of this gets out into the dark community." The old man stood. "We will discuss these events without mention of Halo at our staff meeting tonight… and I also believe another search of the school for Mr. Black is in order. But for now, I think it's time you saw to your daughter." He turned to leave.

"Don't you see, Albus…" Snape's voice was very low, haunting, "She's becoming… _me."_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Halo was just rousing when he returned to her side a few moments later. That boy was still there, speaking sweetly to her, brushing her hair out of her face. He wondered vaguely if they'd… _No, she's just as soon let anyone touch her, _he dismissed the notion all together. He looked daggers at the young man, who shot them right back. He apparently wasn't the only one who was trying to protect her. He hoped it wouldn't become a battle of wills, for fear he may be forced to hurt the boy.

Oliver Wood was livid. With Professor Snape, of course, and anyone else who had anything remotely to do with Halo's current state of health. He was angered, upset, worried… to the point that his hands shook and tears threatened to squeeze from his eyes. But he had to be strong for Halo, this much he knew.

"I don't know if you'll be as attached to her once you've found out what she's done to get herself in this mess, and I'd be quite surprised if she gives you another chance after you walk out on her this time," Snape spoke harshly to the young man.

"She knows I won't leave her."

Snape snorted. "We'll see."

_What are they talking about…_ Halo could here muffled voices and see the distorted figures of her father and best friend hovering over her, wondering if it was just a dream, wondering if she wasn't still on the ground in the woods. The slight antiseptic smell of the ward told her the truth. It was rather comforting, actually… whether or not the two men above her were quarrelling… at least they were both there with her. She felt she must cherish it as long as possible, for at least one of them would desert her when they found out what she'd done. And with that thought in mind, she dozed off again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Snape received an owl from Malfoy Senior that evening.

_Severus,_

_Something has happened. I desire a meeting with you as soon as possible._

_~Lucius_

A complete list of the foulest of expletives rained from his lips as he incinerated the letter in his fireplace, then stepped into the flames with a pinch of Floo powder.

Lucius Malfoy was usually an angry man, but when he was enraged to the point of fear, it was truly something to be concerned about. Snape was sure to mask his acquaintance with the situation, which was rather difficult, considering he was legendary in the dark community for his knowledge of what was not meant to be widely known.

"Do you have any idea what happened this morning, to seventy-three of our ranks this morning? _Do you?"_ Lucius spouted immediately upon Snape's arrival in his enormous stone hearth.

"I believe that was your reason for summoning me at a most inconvenient time," he replied, his voice remaining unemotional.

"You don't know, then? You, who knows everything that goes on in our world, and I assume many things even I don't know?"

"That's right, Lucius, are you going to tell me or should I go back to that infernal school and do what I am supposed to do: spy for our side?"

"Seventy-three of our fellow Death Eaters were murdered this morning!"

Snape mocked upset. _"What? How?"_

"I haven't the slightest idea! There were pieces of them everywhere… it was truly sickening, even for me." he moved in on Snape. "I have the distinct feeling that you do know, however…"

_Careful, Severus. Match his anger, his frustration, it's the best way to hide what you know…_ "Did it ever occur to you that jumping to conclusions will drive what remains of our people apart? You're paranoid man, pull yourself together! I would think that you of all people would know better than to accuse _me_ of something, it rather means that you must have had something to do with it, to be so quick to blame someone else."

Lucius stared him down for a moment, then his lips curled into a thoughtful sneer. "You're correct my friend… I had to ensure that I could still trust you."

"If that was the reason you asked me here, then I'll be leaving," he turned back to the fireplace.

"Severus…"

Snape turned around.

"Watch your back, my friend. I trust you'll keep me apprised of any new developments."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The next time Halo awoke, there was a slight weight on her chest and something soft was patting at her chin. She fought a temporary sleep-induced paralysis to open her eyes.

"Mrrrp!" a pair of blue eyes stared down at her.

"Hello Tap," she breathed, stretching.

"You're awake," a voice stirred into her mind.

Snape put down the book he was reading and gave her his full attention.

"Where's Oliver?"

He shifted in his chair. "It is after midnight. Contrary to popular belief, the student curfew is _not_ optional."

Halo sniffed, not from impending tears but out of habit. She was feeling numb as the remembrance of her deed slowly filtered into her brain. She knew that if she felt what she thought she should feel, she'd lose consciousness again. "You saw what I did, didn't you…"

"Yes," he whispered.

"And I'm sure you know why."

"On the contrary, I absolutely do not. Please enlighten me."

Halo was silent.

"My dear girl, it's far too late into the night for me to be angry with you, so you can rest assured that your tale will be met with the least amount of resentment. Now please, tell me what drove you to…this."

"Draco…"

"Yes I know all about young Mr. Malfoy," he interrupted. "He informed you of the meeting, gave you the time and location. He's already told us, and is being adequately disciplined for not bringing this to our attention first."

Halo's eyes would have welled up with tears, had she not been experiencing such a bout of emotional detachment. "I did it for you."

Snape blinked. "You… what? Why?"

It was several seconds before she began again. "I've only ever wanted you to at least like me. Ever since I found out what you were, I wanted to get rid of everyone who did that to you. All of them. And I don't know why, since all you've ever done for me was make me feel unworthy of being held dear. Well now I don't care anymore. I'm well aware that you intend to let me die before Summer is through. And for that reason, I will not let you stop me from finishing what I've begun. If anything at all, it will relieve the world of people like you."

Severus Snape was dazed into a deafeningly silent shock. He felt as though he'd been backhanded by the Gods and had to gather the pieces of his broken soul from the farthest reaches of the universe. For the first time since Halo came into his life, he desperately wanted her to understand him. She'd been trying all this time to please him, he realized too late, and pain welled up in his stomach, very nearly bringing on a half-gag, half-sob reflex. It was the mere handful of times like these when he was touched most deeply that he wished he'd never shrouded and deeply buried his ability to feel.

And now he'd lost her completely. She'd given him second, third, fourth chances and he'd thrown all of them back in her face with a wave of his long, skeletal fingers and a sour sneer in his voice. And nothing he could say now would convince her otherwise… not that he could think of anything to say. He lowered his face into his hands and struggled to control his breathing.

Halo watched him. _He's feeling this… good. It's about time he felt something. Perhaps when I'm gone he'll turn into something resembling a human, which he's so recently accused me of not being._ She absently petted her cat and watched him further, his shoulders shaking for a moment, then his back spasmed as he fought to control himself.

_She has no regard for human life, _he thought. _She's so angry… she doesn't understand that evil is not infinite, it can be turned to rights. How could she… all those people… Death Eaters… but still people…"_

"It's twisted, Halo… so twisted… you're becoming more like me, and I cannot prevent it." He still wasn't able to look at her, his black hair shading his tearstained face from view. "If anyone found out you did this… it means Azkaban."

A chunk of ice dropped into the pit of her stomach, jarring her numb state. "What… but they were Death Eaters!"

"In the shadows… in their own private lives, yes they were. But in open society, some of them held high positions in the Ministry, many highly respected throughout the wizarding community whether they had malicious intent or not. The Headmaster and I can overlook the… _infraction_… to ensure that you don't end up in that place, but those bribe- and threat-driven politicians in the Ministry would see otherwise. I will not allow you to irritate the situation further."

A moment of cold silence passed between them.

"What's left for me now?" she squeaked, clearly fearful again.

Snape sighed, his composure regained, his face now dry and closed. "A dreamless sleep… and _Obliviate_, to protect you."

"I don't want them."

Snape sighed again, closing his eyes, willing himself to be the stronger force in this case. "Please don't make this difficult, Halo. I need to be a good father for once. I have decided what I think is best for you, and this is how it shall be."

"_Obliviate_ Draco if you want to protect me."

"It has already been done, But it isn't enough. Now lie down."

Halo did as she was told, taking the flask he held out for her. She paused before drinking from it. "Aren't you afraid I might do the same thing without the knowledge that I've already done it?"

Quite a logical thought, one he had pondered at great length. "A bit… but admit to yourself that you'd be better off not knowing that you've done what you now know you've done, and instead _knowing _that you haven't yet been driven to that extent."

Halo considered that as she brought the flask to her lips, downing the contents in one swallow, already too exhausted to argue. _Damn him, but he's probably right… for once…_

_…and perhaps now I will have the opportunity to talk her out of her plan,_ he finished her thought, infinitely relieved that she hadn't fought him on it, but concerned at the same time that she hadn't. He was losing her fast.


	18. Ultimatum

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

SUMMARY OF PART 17: Halo kills 73 Death Eaters in one blow using her Sirenic ability. Snape finds out from Draco what Halo is about to do, but gets there too late to stop her. He brings her back to Hogwarts in a half-dead state. When she wakes up, she tells him that she did it for him, and that she won't stop until every single Death Eater is dead, as she asserts that it is their fault that he is the way he is. He convinces her to let him Obliviate her memory of the event, as he has already Obliviated Draco in order to protect Halo from being sent to Azkaban as a murderer. He then administers a Dreamless Sleep.

_From the end of Part 17: _Halo considered that as she brought the flask to her lips, downing the contents in one swallow, already too exhausted to argue. _Damn him, but he's probably right… for once…_

_…and perhaps now I will have the opportunity to talk her out of her plan,_ he finished her thought, infinitely relieved that she hadn't fought him on it, but concerned at the same time that she hadn't. He was losing her fast.__

PART EIGHTEEN: ULTIMATUM 

"Is she asleep, Severus?"

"It has been done."

"I see."

"Headmaster… she said she did it for me."

"Ah… that makes sense."

"Does it?"

"Yes. It makes sense that she would take it upon herself to destroy those who represent who you were, those who keep you from being what she needs you to be."

"You make it sound so… acceptable."

"Of course it isn't… murder is murder, plain and simple."

"You think she should be sent _there_, don't you?"

"Of course not, my boy. She's still a child… still reachable. Her actions, however, were rather… unfortunate."

"Unfortunate? _Unfortunate? _Seventy-three, Albus! Seventy-three lives! Death Eater lives, mind you, but human lives all the same. Not that their numbers won't recover by this time next year…"

"Yes, I understand. But it won't do to dwell on them. Halo, however, requires much thought. Particularly, how to reach her…"

"I doubt she's _reachable_ anymore."

"She is… though I never thought her capable of _this_."

"And neither did I. What worries me now is that she didn't think to use her subtle persuasion instead of… _destruction_."

"You? Worry? The student population will be shocked."

"I'm very serious, Albus. And who is to say she won't repeat the episode, now that she won't remember what she is capable of?"

"I'm being quite serious. She will be confined, for no other reason than to protect the other students. I take it you have little confidence in your ability to persuade her to direct her fury elsewhere…"

"That's putting it lightly."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"Could we have a Dementor follow her around?"

"I think that's the closest I've heard you come to making a joke in years, Severus."

"I assure you that it won't happen again."

"We'll see… with that aside, the fact remains that we have a very angry, very dangerous little girl on our hands."

"Not for long."

"In which sense?"

"I haven't decided… yet."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Severus debated his last words as he swept out of Albus Dumbledore's office. _Not for long…_ _To let her go when it's time is one thing, she may be too far gone as it is… but to coax her fury into the open with the hope that she won't be tempted to kill anyone else… now that's downright impossible._

He stopped in the middle of the corridor.

_Isn't it?_

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Halo… Halo, wake up."

"Wha…"

"Can you hear me?"

"Obviously…" her speech was slurred. She opened a groggy eye and focused on a thin, lightly tanned face peering down at her anxiously.

"Are you all right?" Oliver's voice was reassuring in her current state of confusion, while hinting at a suppressed level of concern.

She blinked to take in her surroundings. _I'm in my room…_ she thought. _How curious… I was being yelled at… again… for what? Oh yes, the Trophy Room. It needed redecorating, I just thought I'd get the process started… _She giggled to herself mischievously. Then she saw her father standing in the doorway. The sleepy, drunken smile died on her lips.

Sensing the tension between the girl he loved and her father, Oliver gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It's all right. He just wants to make sure you're safe," he afforded a glance over his shoulder to the Potions Master, who nodded in something of encouragement. Turning back to Halo, he began the premeditated farce. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Happened… when?" she was still utterly dazed.

"Your father tells me that the two of you had a rather heated discussion, but just as he was about to leave, you had a sort of neurological episode." He glanced back to the dark wizard for reassurance.

Snape finally stepped forward. "You fell and suffered several violent convulsions," he continued. "You're fortunate to be alive." He realized after the words had left him that he should have left the last part out and cursed himself for it.

Oliver quickly covered the slip-up. "I came as soon as I heard. Madam Pomfrey wouldn't let anyone see you until an few minutes ago. So are you all right? Do you need anything."

Halo's head was swimming… something of this wasn't right. Her vision was blurred and stars danced before her eyes as she attempted to absorb the collection of words being thrown at her… _neurological_ e_pisode… violent convulsions… fortunate to be alive…_ it was like some bizarre dream, one where she woke up and wasn't sure which was the truth and which was the fantasy.

"Why…" she whispered.

"It was the 'last straw' effect… the final blow that broke the camel's back," Snape explained. "You've endured far too many reprimands and a great deal of trauma in the past few months, and in your condition you were defenseless to process it any longer." It was the nearest he could come to declaring that he had been frightened for her life.

Oliver was feeling the tension in the room like a coil of rope inching around his neck, and in addition to the bold-faced lies he was promoting, there was little hope that he'd last long before breaking down. But he had to hold back; by refusing to be Obliviated, he accepted the responsibility of helping to create an alternate account of her state over the past two days. He'd promised to hold his tongue when it came to revealing anything about the emotional state of the Potions Master, but that wasn't the hard part. He hated the fact that he'd lied to Halo, but it was to protect her… from herself.

Halo was silent for a long moment, her eyes rolling as though reacting to some mind-altering substance. "Has anyone fed my cat?" she blurted out.

_How can she be thinking about that? _Snape mused. "Yes, it's been taken care of."

She became silent again, this time for a longer period. Her guests simply waited for her to speak again or fall asleep, whichever happened first.

"Is there no end to the things wrong with me?" She burst into tears.

Snape went rigid, wanting to comfort her but refusing to do so in front of a student, particularly a _Gryffindor_ student. To his relief, Oliver had the situation well in hand, holding Halo to him in a gesture of pure gentleness and affection. He spoke soothingly to her, rocking her back and forth.

_That should be me,_ Snape told himself harshly.

"I'm so messed up…" Halo's voice sounded through the flannel of Oliver's shirt. Snape thought her heard her whisper something like "…just let me die…" and he swore his stomach fell from his belly into his shoes.

"No… no my love." Oliver's fingers combed aimlessly through her dark hair.

Suddenly Halo pulled away from him, shoving him off the bed. "Get away from me! All of you! Just leave me alone!"

Oliver was dazed, to say the least, half sitting, half lying where he'd hit the rug-covered floor with an audible thud. His eyes were wide with disbelief, his lips stunned to silence. He barely noticed Snape's hand on his arm, pulling him up.

"Get out!" she screamed, her voice shrieking to the point of rawness, throwing herself down onto the bed.

"Mister Wood, I must ask you to leave." Snape's voice was gravely serious, his black eyes piercing the young man's brown ones. He wasn't going to put up with any form of resistance. Oliver found himself in too much shock to offer any. He pulled out of the Potions Master's grasp and backed out the door, closing it behind him.

Tapestry, who had been at the foot of the bed when her mistress woke up, had fled to the bathroom at the first sign of trouble.

Halo had stilled, face-down on the bed. She knew he was still there. _Why? He can't possibly want to be in here with me… what if I hurt him? Oh but I want to hurt him again… wouldn't that just make everything better? _She wasn't convinced. _Even better yet… why don't I hurt myself? Could he possibly understand? Could he even care?_

Snape padded cautiously over to the bed after warding the room. He knew she was aware of him. "Halo…"

The flames returned to her previously metallic eyes as her face rose from the bed. _"You will maintain your distance,"_ she warned him, her voice smooth as velvet and suggesting the quality of a deity in material form.

Snape took a step back, suddenly claimed by fear. He clenched his fists to prevent his hands shaking. Quickly trying to analyze the situation, his mind rushed with any number of ways to prevent harm coming to either of them, but the blood pounding in his ears prevented any truly rational thought and froze him in the present with an overwhelming sense of vulnerability.

_"Your life is in my hands, as mine was once in yours," _the unfamiliar intonation articulated. _"Therefore I afford you a choice: Join me in eliminating every last Death Eater in existence…"_ her eyes flashed redder than magically possible, _"… or die."_

What only could have been described as icy acid burned its way down his spinal column. The wizard fell to his knees, his head now beneath Halo's in a submissive manner as Halo sat up, raising her arms, palms facing up, giving the effect of a scale on which to weigh his own heart. She raised alternating hands slightly as she hissed the following words.

"Join… die… join… die…" 

Not even the Dark Lord himself had ever frightened Severus Snape this much.

The crimson eyes stared through his soul, awaiting his answer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_A/N: The monologue "Join… die… join… die…" comes from the end of the original RPG Fallout. A very good game, I might point out. You can get it and also part 2 for around $15 at any computer store. I've posted a link to the Fallout site on my homepage, so click my name at the top of the page to get there, as it seems I can't post web addresses inside this story. I can't fathom why not._


	19. Loss

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N: If the end of Part 18 creeped you out, I've done my job fairly well. J

PART NINETEEN: LOSS "Join… die… join… die…" 

Not even the Dark Lord himself had ever frightened Severus Snape this much.

The crimson eyes stared through his soul, awaiting his answer.

_Who in Hades has possessed her? I won't believe for a second that this thing is truly my Halo… but how did anything else get in? Careful, Severus, she's looking rather impatient. Perhaps now would be a good time to answer, before she follows through on the latter choice._

"Neither," he declared.

Halo's eyes surged violently red. Before she could react, Snape's hand shot forward and a wave of iridescence hurled forth from his palm. The swell caught her square in the chest and pinned her down to the bed. She was frozen in a state of complete stillness. Her crimson eyes were still moving, however, following his every move.

He sauntered over to the bedside in true Death Eater fashion. "I hope you didn't think you were the only one here who can do some kind of wandless magic," he  presumed, sitting down on the edge of her bed and staring down into her raging eyes. He considered her for a moment. "I don't know who you are, but I want my daughter back. Now."

On command, the fire left Halo's eyes, which returned in a flash to their cold metallic sheen.

"That's better."

With a subtle wave of his hand, the body bind was released. Halo's eyes fluttered nearly closed from exhaustion. "I'm so sorry, Father… I didn't mean to… I'm so sorry…" she whispered.

"That wasn't you, Halo. You weren't yourself."

He really had no idea. Halo's mind raced with the images of her rage, of people dying at her hands, figures she'd only seen in dreams seeming more real to her now than ever before. She could remember everything from her altered state, but most of all she could recall the lack-of and, at the same time, overwhelmingly-mastered sense of control that she felt. She couldn't explain it, not even to herself. But she would have to explain it to him. Someone had to understand.

"It was me. I remember it… I remember it all."

Snape sighed deeply. "Remembering doesn't imply that you had any bearing on your actions. Something possessed you momentarily…

"Would you listen…" she forcefully interrupted, sitting up and breaking into a sudden coughing fit from the effort.

Snape felt his stomach squirm in agony at her abrupt loss of body control. He supported her as she bent nearly double, hacking over her lap until drops of blood fell from her mouth and blotted into the cream fabric of her nightdress and mixed with the tears of pain that fell from her eyes as the pulmonary contractions ceased. Snape gently but firmly cupped her chin in his hand and raised her head so he could see her face while fetching a handkerchief from his pocket. She was a mess. Her skin was flushed and splotchy, streams of blood trickled from the corners of her mouth, her nose dripped mucus and her red-rimmed eyes were full of tears. He held the cotton cloth over her face and told her to "blow." She did so, and then he folded the cloth over and wiped the blood from her chin. He had just finished cleaning most of the fluids from her face when she pushed his hands away.

"Halo…"

"Please don't touch me," she whispered.

"I'm not going to hurt you." His breathing quickened slightly as he had the distinct feeling she would contradict his declaration. He was shocked when she didn't.

"I know that. But I _will_ hurt you." She looked him square in the eyes, willing him not to speak. Her voice was hoarse from the trauma to her throat. "It was me… in every way. It was like…" she searched for a way to describe it, "… as though I had complete control, but cared not whether what I was doing would harm you. If you hadn't stopped me, I would have killed you just now."

Snape's eyes were wide with shock. "I won't believe it. I won't!"

"You have to. And you have to stay away from me."

"Halo, I…"

"Just let me die, please. Just let me…"

"No!" Snape took her by the arms and shook her hard.

"You're going to anyway!" she screamed, well… she would have screamed had her voice not sounded as though she'd swallowed broken glass. "Just let it happen now, before anyone gets hurt!"

"Pull yourself together, Halo!" He was still shaking her, his hands gripping tightly on her arms. His tone got her attention for a moment, but it was all the time he needed. "Now listen to me, and listen well," he said, his eyes holding her gaze. "I won't allow you to go before it's time. In fact, I'm not planning to let you go at all."

_Where the hell did that come from?_ he berated himself, pausing for a moment to let his outburst sink in. _Did I really mean it? Did I… is this… what's happening to me? Have I gone soft? I must protect her, that much I know. But can I really save her?_

Halo was just as shocked by the revelation as he was, she just didn't take in the fact that perhaps he hadn't meant it. She was only almost fourteen, after all. Her already-twisted gut was wrenching in her belly.

"Please… please don't say that," she begged. "Please don't… I'm not worth it…"

"Yes you are… yes you are," he took her face in his hands. "You only need to learn to control it, that's all. And you can do it, do you hear me? You can…" he pulled her into his chest, her slight body shaking in his arms. Despite his reassurances, Severus Snape had never been more confused in his life. Not only about his feelings, but because he was losing all control of his time-perfected callous disposition, and while he cursed himself for it, he couldn't really give a damn about it at the moment.

It was a long while before Halo's trembling subsided enough for Snape to let her go. Having gone quite limp but still conscious, he settled her against the pillows and smoothed her dark hair away from her cheeks. He was mildly surprised when she didn't fight him, and a bit concerned that she'd seemed to have given up. Her eyes were open but unfocused, and all spirit seemed to have drained from them. She was exhausted, to say the least.

"I'm going to leave you for a while," he informed her. "Will you be all right?"

Halo didn't move for several seconds. Her tranquility was alarming, but the slight rise and fall of her chest betrayed any indication of sudden death. She gave the tiniest of nods.

Snape nodded once himself to indicate that he'd seen and understood. "I will return shortly," he said, and left her alone and silent in her room, noticing just before he closed the door that Tapestry had ventured out of the bathroom to curl up on the rug next to the bed.

He hurried to his lab deep in the dungeons. Not the student lab, but a private one, a place no one but himself and Albus Dumbledore knew existed. Once inside the damp stone chamber and surrounded by his familiar craft tools, he set himself to work lighting a fire under his best copper cauldron, pulling potion ingredients off shelves and measuring precise amounts into vials and flasks for proper mixing. And despite his immense concentration and the impossibility that he'd make a mistake with a potion he'd only created a handful of times, he brewed his thoughts over what he'd been calling "The Halo Situation."

The dark and light shoulder-perching figures visited – scratch that – _pestered_ him and his feelings for an hour while the potion mixed, bubbled and finally cooled. They took their leave, much to Snape's relief when Dumbledore's head popped into view inside the chamber's abandoned fireplace.

"Yes, Headmaster, what is it? I'm very busy."

"It isn't terribly important, I believe you'll reason… but Mr. Wood wonders if he might see Halo. He feels it would be best to ask permission, since he informs me that he was asked to leave some time ago."

"Tell him it isn't a good idea."

"I shall… wait a moment…" Dumbledore's head disappeared from the green flames. A moment later it reappeared, long beard and all. "The boy is most anxious to speak with you himself."

"Then tell him to join me tomorrow evening for detention, as it is fitting for a student who sees fit to reject my negative response!" Snape barked.

Dumbledore looked positively bewildered. "Is everything all right, Severus?"

"Headmaster… I apologize for the outburst. I must finish my work and I will speak with you this evening." Snape mentally berated himself for his disrespect.

"Very well, I will expect an explanation then." Dumbledore's head disappeared with the emerald flames.

Snape blew out a long breath, closing his eyes as he fought to reorganize his composure and regain his track of thought as he spooned the thick, sugary, tangerine-colored result of his labor through an aluminum funnel and into a round, narrow-necked bottle. He placed a cork stopper in the top and carried the glass container gingerly from his hidden chamber, up the winding stone steps and back the way he came.

"Professor! Professor Snape!"

_Oh what now? _he thought as he turned on the high-pitched, squeaky-voiced student who had just so unfortunately stepped into his path. "Well? What in Merlin's name is it!" he hissed.

The young Slytherin, a second-year pixie of a girl stepped back in fear of his wrath. "N-Nothing, sir… I'm sorry for bothering you…" she spun and fled back to the nearby Slytherin common room.

_Thank the Gods for their terror_. He admitted the relief to himself, still quite proud of the fact that the students' fear of him also brought about their ability to conduct themselves properly in the behavior department while in his presence, but he couldn't help feeling the slightest bit remorseful. _Funny, I've never regretted my disposition before. That girl I call my daughter is getting to me,_ he told himself.

He hadn't loosened his grip on the bottle in his hands, even as he came before Halo's chamber door and opened it quietly, closing it behind him once he'd entered. Tap was still on the floor by her bed, but was sitting upright and bellowed a solid _"Mrrrp!"_ when Snape came to the edge of the bed.

She'd pulled the covers over her head, he saw as he tentatively sat down on the edge of the bed and placed a hand gently on what he assumed was either her belly or her back, whispering her name. He shot up from the bed when his hand sank through her body. Ripping the covers back, he was inactively greeted by Halo's white linen pillows, craftily shaped to look like her body from beneath the blankets.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dumbledore and the rest of the Hogwarts Staff had been notified at once and began a search of the castle. Snape went straight to the Dementors, much to his reluctance, and demanded to know if they'd apprehended her, or at least seen her. He hadn't needed Veritaserum to get the truth from them, and it was in the negative.

So she hadn't gone outside. At least, not in any way he could think of. Unless…

The blood drained from his face; he raced back to his room. And there, misplaced from his opened lockbox and lying quite plainly on the cold stone floor, was his one-use escape Portkey.

Halo was gone.

And Severus Snape, crumpled form having sunk to the floor in despair, had no idea how to find her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_Thanks to everyone who reviewed recently! I greatly appreciate your feedback, and I'm delighted to know that my work hasn't gone unnoticed._


	20. Search

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

A/N: I added part of PoA to the story for added effect, no stealing intended. See? If I cite that it's there and the sole property of Miss JK, I can't get in trouble for it! At least I hope not… (Whimpers, "please don't hurt me!")

A/N: How interesting that Luna the owl bears the same name as a character in OotP… and I swear it's a coincidence; I had a parakeet named Luna once and decided to name the owl after her.

PART TWENTY: SEARCH 

Lying propped against a wooden bookshelf, wearing a blank, weathered expression was where Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall found their Potions Master an hour later.

"She's gone." The deep, baritone voice was there, but every hint of its ever-present malevolence had washed away; the black eyes remained fixed somewhere on the opposite wall.

"How can this be possible?" Minerva wondered out loud, her ordinarily calm demeanor spiked with a touch of panic. "The Floo network would prevent her from leaving after her last exploit…"

"How do you know about that?" Snape demanded, shaking himself out of his passive state.

"I informed Professor McGonagall a short time ago, Severus. I believed it was necessary in order for the Staff to understand just how serious the situation is," the Headmaster explained, circling the room and coming to a halt before an object on the floor. "Ah, I see she's used your means of escape," he deduced, retrieving the Remembrall from the floor. The smoke inside the sphere had dissipated, indicating that its power had been exhausted.

The ancient wizard was silent for a moment as he stared at the glass ball being held in his frail, thin fingers. "We will find her, Severus," he said determinedly after a moment. "I promise you, we will find her."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Almost a month had passed since Dumbledore had sworn to those words, and without the slightest indication as to her whereabouts. The scowl on Snape's face had driven deeper lines into his sallow skin, as after the first week of searching, Albus had ordered him to let a small faction of Aurors take over the investigation. They had been most anxious to begin, as they were indebted to the Headmaster and would be as discreet as possible. As a favor to Severus, Albus had only informed them that the girl was simply missing, and that they were only to inform him if or when they found her, and not under any circumstances to approach her.

The students, those who'd noticed anyway, had been told that Halo was sent to another school. This included Oliver Wood, who had been beside himself with despair when he'd been told the same story, and also that he wasn't to make contact with her. His recent respect for Halo's father went completely down the proverbial drain and he stopped attending the seventh-year Potions classes and threw himself full-force into Quidditch training as the only release for the frustration, panic and hopelessness he felt. He was inwardly glad that the final game had been played before Halo's supposed "transfer" and they had won, which gave him the edge he needed in order to be hopefully signed to a team, then scolded himself for thinking about such a trivial thing when he had no contact with the person he most cared about. He blamed the whole situation, but mostly Severus Snape, for his clouded reasoning.

Severus found himself often in her room, which had been left in exactly the state it had been in the day she'd disappeared. He spent long hours in the dead of night going through her things, hoping to find some clue that would tell him where he could find her. He would end each search at her bed, sitting on the edge, then finally succumbing to his own despair and leaning over to bury his face in her pillow. It still smelled like her.

_Is she all right?_ he wondered. _Could she be hurt? Sick? Hungry? Does she have anyone to help her? Will she want anyone to help her? Is she alone?_ He wished he knew.

The House Elves were forbidden to enter her room, for fear that they might move something crucial to her being found. Tap still hadn't returned to the room after taking it upon herself to scour every inch of the castle in search of her master. The cat didn't appear to be very bright, but he didn't think on it for long. He found himself wondering, as he inhaled the fading residue of her scent, breathing more slowly in hopes of making it last longer… _Could this be a blessing in disguise? Is this just the reason I need to get over it… get over her…_ then he harshly berated himself for thinking such a thing. More than once he'd fallen asleep on her bed, only to be awoken in time to rush off to teach the little mongrels who infested the school.

"No word yet, Severus." This was the usual daily report he'd collected each evening before supper in the Great Hall, along with a report on the Sirius Black situation. And the Hippogriff… one of Hagrid's beasts had been unfortunate enough to be blamed for an "unprovoked" attack on the younger Malfoy earlier that year, and despite Draco's change of heart he'd played the part of the infernal little rich boy to perfection. Snape would have been Slytherinly proud of the boy had he not had other pressing issues to consider, such as arrangements for the animal's appeal and destruction, set for that evening.

This time, Severus slumped into one of the overstuffed chairs gracing Dumbledore's office. His eyes were dark, and while at first glance seemed blank and empty, they hid much darker, sadder feelings. "We're never going to find her, are we…"

Dumbledore sighed. "Everything that can be done is being done," he told his much younger apprentice. "It may be time to take more drastic measures… I believe Professor Lupin could be of help…"

"No!" Snape shouted, showing the first sign of rage in over a week. "That _wolf_ cannot be trusted!" he exclaimed, spitting the word like a piece of rotten meat.

"Calm yourself, my boy. Now, what about Luna?"

"No sign of her since Halo left. That blasted bird would follow her to the ends of the earth simply because it's what a sentinel owl does."

"Which means she is somewhat protected; that owl would give its life for her."

"If it hasn't already." With that thought, Severus lowered his face into his hands. No sound was made, nor did he move a millimeter for several minutes, even when the older man perched on the arm of the chair and stroked his back soothingly with a weathered hand.

"I know it isn't something you want to hear, but we must consider the possibility that she has already gone." The wizened old wizard's eyes came close to tears, but he held back for the other's sake. He didn't feel Severus respond to the foreshadowing words he'd been needing to say since the beginning, but he knew the younger man had heard and understood.

"It will be dark soon. I'm going to sort through Halo's things again. It may be my only chance, assuming she's still out there to find…" he paused. "And I also must dose Remus with his potion this evening. I imagine you'll know where to look if you need to find me." Snape rose and was out the door with a much less determined walk than usual.

And Albus Dumbledore watched him go, wishing beyond all his deepest desires that he could do anything to help the man. Yes, even beyond his desire for pairs upon pairs of wool socks.

The Wolfsbane potion was monotonously brewed, portioned into one-dose containers and sealed. Snape selected one and pocketed it, moving through the castle toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's office and pondering what Albus had said earlier. Was it really possible that Halo had already died? He supposed it was possible, even likely, but he dreaded the thought. It wasn't until he reached Lupin's classroom door that he realized how unclearly he was thinking, and couldn't recall the last time he'd had more than an hour of sleep.

The door to the office had been left cracked open. _Curious, that a Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor would leave the portal to his domain unguarded,_ Snape mused. He entered, looking around for the apparently absent professor. Wherever he had gone, he'd left in a hurry to leave his door open. Anyone could come in and take things. _Perhaps I should, just to prove a point…_

Then his eye caught sight of a parchment… parts of it were moving, upon closer inspection… it was a map! Of the school, no less… and then what he saw made his blood run cold as he gripped the back of the desk chair for stability. A tiny dot labeled _Remus Lupin_ was moving toward the Whomping Willow… and inside the Willow was another dot.

This one was labeled _Sirius Black._

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Snape roared. "THIS – HAS – SOMETHING – TO – DO – WITH – POTTER!"

He burst into the Hospital Wing, Cornelius Fudge and Dumbledore flanking him. Dumbledore alone looked calm.

"Professor Snape!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "Control yourself!"

"THEY HELPED HIM ESCAPE, I KNOW IT!" Snape howled, pointing at Harry and Hermione.

He remembered his behavior all too well. If it hadn't been for the immense amount of stress coupled from the near capture and abrupt escape of his childhood enemy with the desperation of trying to find the one person who he was beginning to feel something of a connection with, he doubted he would have reacted quite so hysterically.

He pounded down the stone steps and slammed the dungeon door behind him. He had intended to go to Halo's room, but decided that it didn't deserve his violent and very likely destructive mood. Flasks, jars and tools were hurled about, repaired, and thrown again until the tantrum waned and ended. He was quite exhausted when he left his dungeon again, but he owed it to Halo to give her room another once-over before he would allow himself the luxury of a few moments rest.

Snape sat down on the polished wooden trunk at the foot of her bed after letting himself into her chamber, recounting to himself that the Remembrall she'd used had the power to take her anywhere she desired. He knew that she knew this, for he had given her the information himself four years ago when she'd returned to him to go to school, in the event of an unforeseen event that would merit its use. "Now," he said to himself, closing his eyes in an attempt to think more clearly, "if I were Halo Mandelor, where would I possibly go?"

If walls had ears, they would have been long past bored by this many-times-repeated question. No, many times was an understatement; Severus Snape had said the same thing every time he'd entered the room for the last month. If the walls had found the capacity to become sick of hearing it, they would have packed and left by then.

His eyes opened again, first the left, and then the right. Part of him had hoped that his repetition had finally had an effect; that the answers he sought would magically appear in front of him, but he realized sadly that magic didn't quite work that way, and crawled into Halo's bed on his side, clutching a pillow to his chest.

His nap was the longest he'd had in weeks. It was still dark; the small clock next to him read two-fifteen. Drowsily he turned over, mashing his cheek into the pillow and letting his numb, sleep-prickly left arm fall into the narrow space between the bed and the wall. His slowly-recovering hand brushed something hard… it felt like a book.

He grasped it with stinging fingers and hauled it out of the space… it _was_ a book. He turned it over. The leather cover, embossed with silver lettering read: _"The Book of Shadows."_ and underneath the title in much smaller letters was the name: _"Halo Mandelor."_

"Halo…"

Snape sat up forcefully and opened the book in his lap to a page somewhere in the middle. A very familiar handwriting greeted him with the page's entry.

_My entire life, my future, my existence is in the hands of the one person who will undoubtedly screw it up: my sorry excuse for a father. I suppose he'll be happy when I'm gone. Actually, the man will be a depressing old bat no matter what he does, so whether or not I'm here should matter little to him. Maybe I should just trap myself in here now and get it over with._

"Trap yourself in where?" Snape panicked, flipping furiously through the pages, landing on the very first page. It was a picture, a moving wizard picture, like the few he'd found in Halo's trunk. There were no people, just a swirling image that looked somewhat like a deserted beach.

"Inside a book?" his fingers brushed the page. "You wanted to trap yourself in here…" His navel experienced a powerful yank at the moment his fingers touched the edge of the picture, and within milliseconds he was flying through time, space and reality. Images flashed by, most all too quickly to be properly regarded, and being off-balance already from the rough transit, Snape thought he wouldn't be able to gaze upon them properly, nor did he care. His only wish was to find Halo and bring her home.

And then one image stopped before him. It was her family, the family he had sent her to live with so many years ago. They were clapping and laughing, as a younger Halo ran over to them after dismounting from a large, gray horse. They knew better than to hug her, but their smiles were grand.

"You did it! Our girl did it!" the image of Mr. DeMornay cheered, sounding like an echo through the void.

"We're so proud of you!" Mrs. DeMornay was near tears of happiness.

And on the image of Halo's face was… he'd never seen it before… a true smile.

His stomach lurched again as he was pulled faster and faster in another direction.

The happy image had long since faded, and another was coming into view. This one he recognized; it was a scene of her training in his Potions Classroom, and he didn't have to strain through the rushing in his ears to hear what his counterpart was saying.

"Your style of 'living' has made me ashamed to be your father."

Then he saw himself fly backward into the window. His heart, beating furiously, gave a saddened throb as the image changed.

The image of Snape slammed his fists onto the desk. _"Break it, you stupid girl!"_

_"I hate you!"_ Halo screamed.

And another image.

_"Then why are you in here sulking like you've lost your best friend?"_ his image asked in his trademark scathing tone.

Halo looked him in bare astonishment. _"Because I have. And it's because of you."_

And then another.

The image of Halo's dark metallic eyes fixed on his form, but she wouldn't look him straight in the eye. _"Is that what you think?"_ She shook her head slowly in disagreement. _"I've hated you for quite long enough. I'm through. If anything, I'm sorry for you… sorry that you have no feelings. Even to hate me back would be too much for your selfish mind to handle."_

His body was flung onto a rough but forgiving ground.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_The idea for the linking book comes from the MYST trilogy. Just borrowing, no profit on my part, so no litigation, please!_

_The end is coming. Prepare yourself._


	21. Paths

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART TWENTY-ONE: PATHS 

His body was flung onto a rough but forgiving ground.

_Sand._

And Merlin, was it hot! He yanked his hands from it the instant he'd pushed himself to his knees, brushing the heat off furiously. His head rose like a prairie dog's to survey his surroundings and he ignored the screaming pulse of his heart and the churning in his stomach, forcing them to calm. Before him was a vast, blue ocean under a sky of brilliant blue, then as he turned in a slow circle the sky blended from airy calm to a gloomy, turbulent gray, then to sunset orange, then to midnight black sprinkled with diamonds, on to a pink-hued sunrise, and back to the midday blue.

Had he been paying any attention to the ground as he turned, he would have seen her immediately. But on his second turn, he viewed distant, broken structures on land, large, flat stones leading out to sea, and hastily-built wooden planks that led behind a hill and out of sight. Not a sound of creatures interrupted his shallow breathing, which echoed through the light breeze like wind through reeds. The sun, situated where the day phases of sky met above his head, beat something furious on the dark-clad man, giving him no other choice than to remove his robes and coat, revealing the light cotton shirt and trademark black trousers. He let them fall upon the ground without care. And then he saw her.

She could have become part of the sand, had it not been for her hair, and no visitor would have been the wiser. He was about to shout her name, as he had never before in his life been more glad to see anyone, but something in him told him that startling her would not be a good idea. He was in Halo's territory, and on her terms. She didn't appear to have noticed him, and he moved quietly toward her.

But Halo knew he was there. It took every ounce of strength she possessed not to run. _I led him here… I brought him here. I can't give up now_. She could feel his presence edge against her as he sat down beside her at comfortable distance. What was she kidding, nothing about this was comfortable.

"How long did it take you…" it was a question, but didn't sound like one. Her arms were wrapped loosely about her knees, clothed in the same cream nightdress she had worn the night she disappeared.

_Doesn't she know?_ he wondered, and voiced the question.

Halo shrugged. "Time doesn't exist here."

"Did you create this place?" he voiced wonderment.

"Well you obviously didn't," her voice had an accusational edge to its monotony.

He drew in a deep breath. "I didn't come here to fight."

"I did."

"You won't get one from me," he told her. "I promise."

"You never answered my question."

He gulped. "Four weeks."

Halo nodded.

"What did you mean, 'time doesn't exist here?'"

Halo sighed, weary of explaining even before giving the description. "When you showed up just now, I'd only just sat down here. Now it's my turn… why did it take you so long?"

"Why did you leave the book in such an inconspicuous place?" he thought for a moment while her silence persisted. "You wanted me to have to look for you…"

Halo was silent, but her eyebrows were knitted in such a way that she looked to be holding back tears.

"But then, why did you use the Portkey?"

Speaking without crying when the lump in your throat threatened to dissolve at any moment was one of the more difficult things to do in life. "I took its magic… held it inside my wand and put it into the book."

"And the memories…"

"To make you see what it's like… what it's like to be me. But then, you'll never truly know, will you?"

_She really is here to fight, _he realized. _She must think it's all she has left._ He decided to take it slowly.

"What is this place?"

Halo snorted. It was the biggest reaction from her he'd seen yet. "It's what my life feels like. I assume you didn't read the book before you jumped into it…"

"No I didn't, not much anyway," he admitted. "Please, tell me about it."

She sighed deeply. "Everything I wrote in that book exists here. Every thought. Every feeling I put down in words created this place. Even I didn't know what it would look like until I introduced the Portkey's magic into it. But now that I'm here, I know everything's place. I understand the order of things. The sky feels how I feel; so many things change and so quickly that it's hard to feel just one way for very long. The sand… it's how I feel every time I see you; it's as though I'm standing in hot sand, burning to get away from it, but I must endure it because it is my place. It becomes so painful at times that I lash out."

Severus waited a moment when she became quiet before taking his turn. He kept his voice low and unthreatening.

"And the higher ground?" he asked her.

"It's where I want to be… but you see the two paths. The grass leads to crumpled buildings. That is what will happen if I go back… everything I know and care about will be destroyed. I have to stay as far away from them as I can."

"And the other path?"

"It… it leads to something… something I can't see… something I am afraid of." She sniffled lightly. "It's what will happen when I die."

He was treading on very unstable ground. "And… the rocks over the water?"

"It's the way out… back to the true world." Her voice trembled.

 "But the sand… why did you stay here?"

There was a long pause, one in which Halo's eyes welled up with tears that rolled, one by one, down her cheeks. Snape didn't dare give into the impulse to brush her tears away.

"I keep hoping…" she sputtered through racking sobs, "… hoping that it… will cool down… so I can enjoy it… before I have to leave…" her last bit of control broke and she fell into her crossed arms, weeping, but at the same time trying to force herself to stop.

_You heartless bastard,_ he chided himself. _The girl is baring her soul to you; she's given you every last chance and then more because the one thing she wants is the one thing you've failed to provide. You're her father, for Heaven's sake, and you're a despicable bat who only cares about whether or not she's behaving_. He knew it wasn't completely true, but he was allowing himself, for the first time in many years, to tear down the wall he'd spent so long building to filter out what he'd long believed were the weaker emotions, those that would regard him useless in his professional tasks.

The visions he had encountered, her most horrible memories of him, had hit said wall with the force of a wrecking ball. He remembered how it felt to be her age… no one liked him, those who liked him even less went out of their way to make him miserable. And he was doing the same to her, for a different reason: he was afraid she'd turn out just like him.

In the beginning, as he remembered, he had only meant to distance himself from her, even when they were forced to have daily contact. But over time this developed into her resistance toward being touched. He had inadvertently sentenced her to a lifetime of loneliness. It was just like him to blame what went wrong on himself; it was easier that way because he didn't have to feel it. But with his wall in shambles, it was a very difficult thing to blame this upon himself when he felt every bit of remorse he should have felt from the beginning.

_No!_ he told himself. _No remorse. She doesn't need the added stress of watching you feel sorry for yourself, and she certainly won't believe an apology. Promises won't help you at this point, but actions might. You will finish what you started._

Ever so slowly, he brought his right arm around her shoulders and his left underneath her legs and lifted her into his arms. The bloodstains were still evident on her clothing, but darkened and dried. She made no move to fight him.

Halo had given up.

Severus Snape could feel it as he carried her curled, limp body over the stepping stones when they vanished from the book realm and reappeared on her bedroom rug at the precise moment that he had entered it. He kicked the book aside, as he had emerged standing on the page with the moving picture.

The little girl in his arms writhed painfully in his arms and gasped uncontrollably. He looked down at her face, her eyes were wide with pain and before his eyes, her skin had begun to shrivel, her body emaciating itself instantly. It was as though the missing weeks without food and sleep had caught up with her in a matter of seconds.

Snape flew into a panic. He placed her as gently as he could onto her bed and flew to the fireplace, screaming for Madam Pomfrey through the Floo, who came through the green flames at as much of a run as she could manage.

"Quickly! What happened?" she demanded, her eyes landing on Halo and moving to help the girl.

The basic premise stumbled from Snape's lips, and in the moment it took for him to explain as coherently as he'd been able, Dumbledore had silently entered the room and pulled Severus to one side. His eyes begged an explanation.

And did he ever get one. Dumbledore had to hide more sorrow from his weathered face than Snape had ever noticed before. They exchanged a look of mutual understanding before Snape recalled the anger that had been forced upon him just hours ago in the Hospital Wing. It was a long moment before they realized that Poppy Pomfrey was attempting to get their attention.

"Her ordeal seems to have sped up the process," she admitted sadly. "I've given her something for hydration and for the pain, but I'm afraid the poor dear doesn't have long."

Snape stared at the floor, his tears swallowed down deep for the moment. "If…" his voice cracked, "… if I did it… would she be all right?"

Madam Pomfrey stared at him incredulously, unwilling to believe what the Potions Master had just suggested. "It may work… but it may also take a miracle."

Dumbledore turned to leave and motioned for Madam Pomfrey to follow. He turned back before closing the door behind them. "It's not too late."

Severus shot him a stone-faced stare. "I will asked you for the last time, Headmaster. Don't make this any more difficult than it already is."

"The difficulty of your feelings should tell you something, Severus." And then the ancient wizard was gone.

Snape shoved his anger toward the old man deep down, and for the child's sake, allowed his features to soften as he took his place at her side. His knees dug painfully into the stone floor where he knelt, the rug having come away from the bedside in his rush to lay his daughter on the bed.

Panic rose in Halo's throat as she realized this was the last chance she would have to leave an impression upon the world, or at least on her father… and she decided it had better be a good one. Her hands reached out weakly to him, and he wrapped his fingers in hers.

"I'm here, little one."

Halo's voice was raspy, as though she had swallowed sand from the beach in her book. "I'm sorry, Father… I wish I could have been more useful to you…" her eyes went out of focus.

"No, Halo…" Snape stumbled over his words, the lump in his throat threatening to dissolve into… could it be tears? He swallowed it down as he groped for some consolation to offer the little girl suffering beside him.

Halo's body began to tremble violently. Snape's heart leapt into his throat as it dawned on him that this might be the last few moments he would spend with his daughter before she succumbed to the inevitable. He realized with horror that his heart was doing the impossible: it was breaking.

He jumped a meter when a soft mass came to rest on his shoulder. "Luna?" his eyes shot to the window, which had been flung wide open. The bird rubbed her head against his cheek once and then hopped gingerly onto the bed to sit on Halo's chest.

"Move, Luna. She's…"

Luna turned to face him, her owl eyes flashed him a warning. Snape didn't move. The shiny, cerulean bird turned back toward Halo, closed her eyes and began to fluff her feathers. And when Halo inhaled raggedly, Luna vanished in a flurry of silver vapor, which the little girl under her breathed in.

The owl's essence penetrated deep into her being. Halo's eyes went wide as her body filled with all the things it had been lacking; her skin smoothed, her frail body filled out from its emaciated form and her breathing became regular again. But the life in her eyes, Snape could see, was barely there.

_There's your miracle, Severus. Now all you have to do is wait around for her to face death again before you need to worry about your part in saving her… or not… No! It has to be now. No more running, no more waiting. You must choose now, and you must choose quickly. You owe her that much._

"Father…" Halo whispered.

"Yes?" he looked into her red-rimmed eyes. He had missed the fact that she was silently crying.

"It… it hurts…"

"What does?"

"Dying…"

Snape hauled in a breath as he felt a spasm coming on, one which he knew would wring the air from his lungs. He closed his eyes and searched frantically for a voice… the one other people had that guided them, pointed them in the right direction, encouraged them to make the right decisions. With his fingers wrapped tightly around Halo's trembling hand, he strained for the barest whisper. The one that would show him the way.

And then, the voice finally spoke to him. Rather, it screamed to him: _Don't give into fear._

His velvet black eyes shot open. He stared down into the face of the little girl who was so tightly holding onto her connection with him that it was squeezing the life from her body.

He sucked in a shuddering breath, and with all the feeling he could muster, he whispered, _" I… love you."_

He untangled one of his hands from his daughter's fingers and placed it firmly on her chest over her heart, which was beating its last. He took one long, deep breath.

_"Suscipio."_

Seconds went by, and nothing happened.

A blazing blue light pierced through his hand, and undoubtedly through her heart. It split, multiplied, and spread through them at every impossible angle. It forcibly rammed through Snape's body, slicing through his own heart. He felt a white-hot stab through his chest.

Then it was gone.

And Halo surrendered to the deepest sleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_This isn't the end of the story, so please don't freak out yet._


	22. Beginning

All disclaimers are in place. Refer to the Prologue section for details.

PART TWENTY-TWO: BEGINNING 

The sun rose in the East, as it had since the beginnings of the Earth. Tiny rays of light filtered in through the trees of the Dark Forest and crept through the castle windows, riding on a light spring morning breeze.

Albus Dumbledore parted from viewing the sunrise through a ground floor window and walked slowly… hesitantly… across the chilly hall. His hand rested on the doorknob for a long, silent moment, closing his weary eyes and sighing. He pushed the door open without a sound, afraid of what he might see, but knowing that it was his duty to see it first.

They were almost as he'd left them just hours before. The body of his Potions Master lay against the frame of the dark wooden bed, his pale hand locked in the white hand of the little girl. Both were completely still.

The Headmaster's brow wrinkled in acceptance and his eyes closed for a moment. When they opened again, he moved over to the man's body and knelt next to him, placing his weathered fingers on their joined hands. He nearly jumped in shock when one was still warm.

Severus Snape groaned lightly, opening his tired eyes. Several seconds passed before partial awareness crept into him, and he found himself staring into the face of the person he trusted most. His expression was grim.

"She's gone, Severus. Let me take you out of here," The old man whispered gently.

Not fully conscious yet but vaguely aware of the situation, Snape drew his gaze toward the girl on the bed, her dark hair pooling around the porcelain face, her long lashes resting on her cheeks. Releasing her hand was as unemotional as putting down his wand, but was as tangible as taking the Dark Mark all over again. He allowed Dumbledore to pull him to his feet… _how strong the old man is,_ he thought… and let himself be guided to the door.

A voice sounding through his brain stopped him.

"Father…"

Severus Snape had never turned around so fast, not even on occasions when he'd been trying to catch Harry Potter in the act.. The child on the bed was looking at him. Looking. _Her eyes were open!_ He froze, waiting for what he saw to be real, and not just a fantasy he knew he'd wake up from in a few seconds. Then she blinked. And her pale hand stretched toward him.

 "Halo…" his voice was rough, but it held as much emotion as it had in his confession the night before. He took an experimental step toward the bed, expecting his legs to give out beneath him. They did, and he fell to his knees when he reached her side.

Taking her cold, outstretched hand was like being pulled up from drowning. He cupped her cheek in his hand, his eyes locked with hers… but something was different… they were no longer a metallic gray, but now dark green. _How extraordinary,_ his brain interjected. "Are you… real?" he mumbled, more to himself than to her.

"Of course I am, Father…" her voice trembled. In fact, her whole body was shaking.

_She's cold… she's been uncovered all night! _he chided himself, not breaking eye contact for even a second as he grabbed her quilt folded neatly at the foot of the bed and pulled it over her in one swift stroke. His hands went immediately back to her face, tangling in her hair.

"… and Luna…" she whispered.

"…is gone," he told her.

"Oh…" she looked away, her face blank. It was a long time before she turned back to him. "You're crying," she said softly, reaching up to wipe the tears away with her fingers.

Snape marveled at her soft touch. It was as if she… cared. "Yes… everything is all right now," he told her.

"Is it?" Halo wasn't so sure.

He thought for a moment. _Is it? Can I really do this by myself? Yes, I can… she's mine now, truly mine… and I won't ever let her go. Never._

"Yes, little one, everything's fine now. I have you, that's all I need." He stroked her cool cheek with the backs of his fingers. "I love you, my Halo." He pulled her into his arms, and his slowly mending heart melted when she didn't push him away, but rather pulled him in closer, so close that he could feel her heart beating against his chest.

"Good Merlin, he did it," Dumbledore said under his breath, and having been quite forgotten he went to fetch Madam Pomfrey.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The healer had Halo bathed, dressed and fed in under two hours, and the entire time she emitted near-visible bubbles of happiness. The old witch sure was emotional. When she bid the girl good day and left her to rest, Snape returned from a personal errand and went to sit on the edge of Halo's bed.

"Did you find it?"

Snape pulled the volume from his robes and held it up for her to see. "I certainly did."

Halo snuggled down under the covers and watched her father as he opened the novel to the first page and began reading, his smooth baritone voice so much more content than he would have allowed, had anyone else been there to listen.

_"On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays it was Court Hand and Summulae Logicales, while the rest of the week it was the Organon, Repetition and Astrology. The governess was always getting muddled with her astrolabe, and when she got specially muddled she would take it out on Wart by rapping his knuckles. She did not rap Kay's knuckles, because when Kay grew older he would be Sir Kay, the master of the estate…"_ he read from the thick tome entitled _The Once and Future King_.

Halo hung onto his every word as hours went by, absorbing every expression, every emotion as her father did all the voices. It was understood that she would not repeat Severus Snape's talent for storytelling, but he _was_ rather good at it. She was a little surprised when he closed the book and looked at her hesitantly.

"Halo, we need to talk."

Uh-oh. Something is going to come out that will destroy this perfect moment. I just knew it… 

"But before you jump to any conclusions that I'm going to spill regrets or say something that will ultimately ruin your life, know that I won't ever hurt you again." He was looking at her sharply, but not in any way ominously.

_Oh…_ "What is it, then?"

He swallowed as he gathered his thoughts, set the book on the table next to the bed and placed his hands over hers. "I love you, Halo. Never doubt that. But until our world is rid of those who would question my motives, it is much safer for you to continue under the premise that we are in no way related." There, he'd said it. And then he waited patiently for her reaction.

It wasn't as bad as she'd thought, but still… "It's because you're afraid I'll be used to get to you, isn't it…"

A small silence. "Yes."

Halo nodded. "I understand."

"Do you?" he squeezed her hands. "Do you really understand?"

"I don't like it, but yes, I do." Halo spoke softly, slowly and with deliberation. "It's bad enough that Lucius Malfoy knows about us… how do you suppose that happened?"

"The Headmaster has a theory. One which he tends to believe quite strongly…" he forced himself not to become angry, "… and it may be true. But it is still just that, a theory. And as for Mr. Malfoy, I plan to inform him that Professor Dumbledore has taken an interest in you, one which prevents me from _corrupting_ you.

"Will that work?"

Another silence, and slow exhalation. "We shall see."

She nodded. "Can I ask you something?"

He chuckled lightly. "When have I ever been able to stop you? You may ask me anything."

"Did you ever feel sorry for me?"

_Whoa. what a question!_ "Of course not," he told her seriously. "I won't lie to you, there were times I felt guilty for not being who you needed me to be, and I know I'll never be the perfect father. It just isn't in my nature to be a parent… I may slip up, and when that time comes, I'll need you to forgive me." He searched her face for understanding. "Do you still pity me?"

Halo's stomach turned to ice. _The truth, Halo. No more lies._ "No… in fact I never did…"

"What do you mean? You told me…"

"I told you that I did because I was sick of hating you, and I didn't know any other way to hurt you. If I couldn't have your affection I wanted to see you miserable. I'm so sorry, Father…"

"No… no Halo, don't be sorry." He pulled her into a fierce embrace. "Don't ever be sorry for that… it helped me. Truly it did, it helped me to see what I was doing to you. And it quite possibly saved us both last night."

_It's now or never, Halo. Just ask him,_ she pushed herself out of his arms and sat very close, locking eyes with his but not touching him. "I need to know something else as well…"

"You sound as though you already know my answer won't please you. I promise I'll be kind," he offered. He was relieved when she visibly relaxed a bit.

"Why do you love me?"

_She couldn't have asked why I became a Death Eater, could she? No, she had to ask something even I'm not sure about yet…_ he collected a handful of the thoughts zooming wildly through his head and formulated what he hoped was an answer. "That's a very… _very_ difficult question, Halo, but perhaps a simple truth will suffice. I can only hope you won't be afraid of the only answer I have to give." He drew in a deep breath. "The reasons I love you are irrelevant when compared with the vastness of emotion I feel when I am around you. Before you came back to school this year, I had been devoid of all feelings that weren't violently negative for so long that I was beginning to take pleasure in my own emotional destruction. And for that reason I had strongly considered ending my life."

He paused to let her absorb, then continued. "Then you came back, and though I'd thought of you each year before, the pressing issues surrounding your life this year opened me up to the reality that I needed, and then later _wanted_ to care for someone other than myself. But because of my earlier difficulty with feeling, I did not realize what I truly felt as quickly as I should have, and the thought that I may feel such a strong connection to you was quite… alarming."

Halo had not broken eye contact with him, and he appreciated it. She was truly listening, and her usually defiant stare was back, however it was only defiant to his conjecture that she'd fear his honesty.

"So you see," he concluded, "that it is not the reasons that I love you, but instead the fact that I do love you that is important. Do you understand what I mean?"

"Father, you are a wonderful teacher. No one could have explained it better than that." On her face was a small, yet most trusting smile. Then it faded, and she looked away.

"What is it?"

Halo chewed on her lower lip for a long time, then she looked up to him again. "What should I tell Oliver?"

"The truth."

"Do you think he can handle it?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"He has personally assured me that he will not disclose certain… information."

"And you trust him?"

"Yes."

Halo looked puzzled. "But you don't trust anyone."

"That is completely untrue, and you know it. Please don't ask for an explanation; the fact that I trust him at all should be enough."

Halo yawned.

"You're exhausted," he said as he took her by the arms and lowered her back against the pillows. "You need to rest. We can continue the book later."

"Will you tell Oliver that I've returned?"

"When you wake up, you may tell him yourself," he told her as he pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?"

"I can, and I will." He lowered himself over her to press his lips to her forehead.

As Halo's eyes drifted to close, she whispered, "I love you, Father."

Another rare smile played across the Potions Master's lips. "And I love you, my Halo."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two friends shared the last sunset of their year at Hogwarts hand-in-hand on a walk around the castle grounds, both thankful for a moment outside without the presence of the Dementors.

"So you spent nearly a month inside a book?" Oliver Wood was struck with entertained disbelief. It sounded like a wild adventure story to him.

"It didn't feel like that long, and keep your voice down! Someone might hear, and besides, I don't really want to talk about it." Halo had been looking down at the grass for most of their walk.

"Halo, look at me." Oliver had stopped, and his hand holding hers had pulled her to stand facing him. He lifted her chin with his fingers. "I'm so relieved that you're all right."

Fighting tears once again since her awakening, she threw herself into his arms and hugged him tight. "It feels so strange, but wonderful at the same time to finally have people who truly care about me," she told him, her lips just inches from his ear.

"I've always cared about you, didn't you know that?" he said to her, while soothingly stroking her hair. "And now after what your father did… you've always had people who cared, and now you have someone whose love for you is unconditional."

"Unconditional?"

"Yes, that's what the bond of parent and child is like."

"How do you know?"

Oliver was silent for a moment. "Well, I know what having parents is like…"

Halo backed out of their embrace and pulled him over to a bench, where he sat down next to her. "Will you tell me what it's like?"

"Of course, but what's normal for me may not be what's normal between you and your dad…"

Halo sighed. "I don't know if things will ever be… _normal_ between us. But I do know that the way it is now is more than I'd ever hoped for. And with you as my friend," she nudged him affectionately in the side, "I think everything is going to be all right. It's good to finally be alive."

And Severus Snape watched his daughter and her friend from the obscurity of an upstairs window, with a young, silvery sentinel owl perched on his arm. He still felt intensely guilty, as it was his fault she'd lost Luna, and planned to present this one as a gift to Halo when she returned from her walk before sending her down to Hogsmeade station to catch the train back to Kings Cross. The bright-eyed creature looked down on his new master as well.

"You'll serve her until death, just as your sister has done," Snape told the owl. Setting his eyes on the couple below, the corners of his mouth twitched in a tiny smile. Life was going to get a lot darker soon, he realized, but at least now he had something to live for.

~The End… or is it?~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

_OK… REVIEWS PLEASE!!! If you liked the story and would like me to continue it, I'm going to need as many reviews on the entire story as I can get, and some new ideas if you have them. What do YOU want to go into the next story? It will undoubtedly take place in the following school year as I don't want to interrupt the current HP storyline._

_(Def.) Suscipio – to acknowledge a child as one's own._


End file.
